


10 Days of Oikawa Tooru

by runningfromrealitytoanime



Series: Haikyuu one shots, poems and random shit [5]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 10 days of HQ Christmas, All I want for Christmas is you, Christmas, F/M, lovey dovey at christmas, might have some trigger scenes from Chapter 5 and 6, star wars 9 may be discussed in this when it comes out!, star wars mentioned!, when you're supposed to be studying but writing fanfics, writer's dream
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:06:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21805642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/runningfromrealitytoanime/pseuds/runningfromrealitytoanime
Summary: Nanami has never been a girl who wanted to date anyone in the 3D world but when she bumps into Oikawa Tooru, upcoming volleyball star of Tokyo University and Team Japan, she begins to find out that perhaps Christmas isn't such a bad time after all.
Relationships: Oc x Oikawa Tooru
Series: Haikyuu one shots, poems and random shit [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1634080
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	1. Day 1 : 1 Oikawa Tooru

**Author's Note:**

> Got this idea while sitting in church and just couldn't get the whole 10 Days of Christmas and All I want for Christmas is you songs out of my head and thought I incorporated them into this. Initially I wanted to do a fanfic between the OC and one of the BNHA characters but I can't seem to fit them into it and then I thought of our beloved Alien volleyball dork and voila, here it is!
> 
> As it says, this is going to be a 10 chapter story that is to be updated every day and yes, I am a mega Star wars fan and I am going to go wild about it in here. I won't be an ass and spoil the latest movie that is coming out in a few days so don't worry about spoilers (nothing is worse than getting spoilers for a major movie that is the final one in its trilogy and has been in your Christmas list for years).
> 
> Warning things might get a little dark in some parts of it depending on how I flesh it out in the next few days but this story will be done sometime before or after Christmas (wait checking the date now, it might be done by Christmas day but for the sake of the story, going to backtrack this story by a few days).
> 
> Anyways, enjoy the story!
> 
> I don't own the Haikyuu characters (which sucks so bad!)

**12th December**

Christmas is coming and I do not feel festive in the slightest.

Other than the whole issue of it being absolutely commercialized with the fat Santa Claus’s popping up all around town, so called festive treats that cost double of the average meal due to a few touches to it, so called Christmas sales to make people buy more things before Boxing day.

Not to mention the whole ‘love is in the air’ pre Valentine’s day shit.

As I walked to school, trying to ignore all the couples exchanging kisses and presents on campus, I felt like just throwing a grenade on them and let them blow to the next universe considering I hated the sight of PDA. Heck, the main reason could be the fact that I had never had a romance my whole life and didn’t dream of getting a boyfriend anytime soon.

I mean, who would want to date an otaku, fanfic writer slash normal writer and a sci fi geek?

I was the very definition of nerd rolled into one. I never once talked with other girls on the same wavelength in terms of topics. Only having the topics of anime and sci fi bouncing around in my mind, I never did make a good companion to talk to about the latest fashion trends or what’s up on social media and over time, I just stopped trying to talk to people in general. When I went to university, it was even more isolating considering when I tried to join the anime and sci fi club, I realized that I wasn’t as insane as I thought and that for the people who were 100% into the genre, I was too ‘normal’.

I was not normal enough for normies and was not enough of a fan for the fans, so I ended up being all alone for most of my university life.

I thought I might as well give up on life itself as I had no purpose on what to do with myself. I wasn’t doing a degree I liked as my parents were all about me having to do well in the sciences and disliked me pursuing my real dream of being a writer.

If I had it my way, I wanted to be a writer, whose light novel gets turned into an anime and movie and who knows, maybe even a stage play and I get to go to all the events and premieres with the stars of the show and meet up with seiyuu I personally chose for the roles and fangirl until the sky dropped.

Yep, I was beyond gone case.

Despite the fact the holidays were underway, some students still lingering around the place, not wanting to go home due to their personal reasons. I was glad I was in Tokyo and a good halfway across the country away from my suffocating parents. After being in the city for the past 3 years, I was starting to enjoy my new found freedom and would not trade it to going back to the house in the small town where gossip about every little thing was traded around like fodder. People back home had no idea how to shut their traps and just loved gossiping about who’s child studied what and who was in a relationship/ cheating on their beloved.

“I… I like you! Please go out with me!” a boy yelled as I turned to see a freckled boy bowing low to a tiny girl who only came up to below his shoulder. Her eyes were wide as she cried, jumping into his arms as he drew her into a kiss. I silently gagged to myself as I pulled my scarf closer to my face to hide the grimace when I heard a bunch of squeals coming my way and narrowly managed to avoid getting stampeded by a horde of girls and guys alike.

“Where did he go?! I swear he was here five minutes ago!”  
  


“He could have gone anywhere at this rate! For goodness sakes, he knows we have an interview with him today!”

Now that I looked at it, these people looked suspiciously like people ready to film someone or something, cameras half the size of my body perched on their shoulders and fluffy microphones in their hands as one of the ladies’ eyes, a woman with long hair and had way too much makeup on, met mine and I gulped as she strode over.

“Hey miss! Have you seen Oikawa Tooru?”

“Who now?”

Her gaze got sharp and even mildly offended as she clicked her tongue, some of her fellow cameramen seeming to do the same, especially the ladies.

“How could you not know Oikawa Tooru, one of the best players to ever grace Team Japan? He’s the best setter by far, although his younger kohai Kageyama Tobio may soon join the ranks of the team once he leaves high school and is on the way to playing in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo! And he is from your university to boot!”

“I don’t play sports,” I mumbled as she sighed.

“People these days,” she sighed as she turned her heel, her hand brushing her hair in an exaggerated flip before returning to her fellows. As they walked away, I could hear the word ‘otaku’ and ‘gross’ floating in the air as I tugged my bag closer to my chest.

I didn’t normally care what people thoughts of the keychains and badges that adorn my bag. Even my clothes scream anime and sci fi; I had a scarf with Darth Vader’s face dotting the surface and my so-called Christmas jumper said ‘May you have a Merry Christmas, I wish,” with Yoda in big print. Luckily, that was hidden underneath many layers of thick clothing and I had zipped up my jacket, which was the only non-fandom thing I had on me, which saved me from further embarrassment.

My grip tightened around my bag as I turned to leave, moving to step out from behind the pillar I had been hiding behind when I felt something collide with me before feeling very hot.

“Holy shit! I am so sorry!” a voice squeaked as a boy held the remnants of an empty coffee cup. Most of it had gone to my jacket, the front now stained with dark liquid as I tried to stop myself from screaming and calling him a string of curse words when he quickly whipped out a handkerchief that had a pattern of alien heads on it and started dabbing at the stain.

He was slightly taller than me and while I couldn’t quite gauge his age, I could tell he was a student from the uni since he was wearing what appeared to be the volleyball team uniform. The Tohoku University logo was sewn on his right breast with the words ‘volleyball club’ underneath. His brown hair swept across his eyes, glasses perched on his nose as I wondered how did he wear them when he played sports. Then my eyes trekked to his outfit and how he was much more fashionable looking than I was. Despite the fact he had a sports jacket on, his shoes looked like really expensive sport shoes and his trousers were slightly hugging his thighs. An aqua blue scarf adorned his neck, his breath coming out in tiny puffs of smoke as he did his best to wipe the coffee from my jacket.

“I am so sorry! I was trying to get away from those reporters! They won’t leave me alone but I guess it could be due to me being super cool and awesome on the court. Finally someone acknowledges my skills,” he said as my initially perception of him came crashing down.

He was one of those typically good looking asshole guys who had hordes of fangirls crowding around him and underneath it all, his personality must be trash.

“Its alright. I can just go home and change,” I murmured, thanking the gods that my apartment was about 20 minutes away from here. Although at the moment, my main priority was not hitting this guy in the face and having to walk with the stain on my clothes while trying to stay anonymous.

“I will make it up to you, I swear! I want to stay and help but I got to run to practice. Ushiwaka-chan is going to kill me if I come late, although I don’t mind since I want to piss him off but then Kuroo-chan would have my ass handed to me if I show up fashionably late,” he said as the list of names flew across the top of my head when his hand stopped trying to clean me up.

“I’m free tomorrow afternoon so how about I buy you a cup of coffee at Seijoh Café? I heard they have some good seasonal treats there and their hot chocolate looks divine! Been wanting to go there for a while now but Iwa-chan says I shouldn’t since I would get fat and more retarded, although that big oaf has less brains than me,” he pouted as I refrained from telling him he didn’t look like he had that much brains to begin with.

He didn’t leave much chance to say anything as he whipped out his phone that had a familiar character face painted on it, whistling as he tapped the screen to exchange numbers with me. I tried my best not to reveal the wallpaper of the latest Star Wars movie I’m dying to watch in a week’s time but had somehow failed to buy a ticket to considering I was too busy to buy it and didn’t want to go to the cinema to have to deal with so many people at once as he winked.

“Alright then! Shall I see you tomorrow at 3pm?

I nodded as he smiled, his chocolate eyes crinkling as I thought that he looked remotely cute as he waved at me before running off to practice, whistling under his breath as I was left standing in the drafty corridor on my own, contemplating on what had happened.

By the time I had got home, I felt my jacket was beyond saving as I threw it into the washer. Grumbling I now didn’t have a chance to actually do any work in school and that I have to do it now, I quickly made a cup of tea and walked into the small one bedroom flat I occupied on my own. The walls were covered with Star Wars and anime posters of all sorts to the point the ceiling was even covered by them. The bookshelf was full of manga I had collected over the years along with some figurines of the few husbandos I had fallen in love with and wished to marry.

I slid my cup onto the desk, humming to myself as I pulled out my laptop and books from my bag, plugging in my headphones before beginning to do work, relaxing music from Star Wars calming my mind as I typed away, letting myself drown in the world of the Force and Jedi fighting battles across the galaxy. How I wished I could travel the stars the way they did, to be able to be the main character in their story with all the power they could have and find the person they love amongst the stars.

They had the entire galaxy to find their true love after all.

True love? That was a concept I thought might be bullshit.

My mind went to the book I had written over the course of my university, silently praying that I would be able to one day achieve my dream of becoming a writer and getting published but for the time being, time to zone out.

When I finally finished my work, the sun had gone down outside and my stomach rumbled from the lack of lunch. Groaning about how I should have gone home for the sake of being able to be fed by my mum, I moved to the kitchen to wipe up some food. As I chopped away at the ingredients, headphones still plugged in, I couldn’t help but think of the encounter with the guy I had earlier that day that had made my schedule gone out of order and the fact that my jacket may never recover.

My hand reached to pull out my phone from my pocket, my thumb tapping to view the new number that had been added to the very short list of names I had on the list. The name that popped out wasn’t exactly the one I had in mind but after thinking of the whole reporter issue with him claiming to have run away from them, it all clicked together.

I wonder how it would be like to go for coffee with the apparently moronic Oikawa Tooru whose good looks made him seem better than he actually was?


	2. Day 2 : 2 cups of coffee

**13th December**

Like any modern citizen of the world who had zero sense of direction and how to get to places, I held up my phone in my hand, google maps active as I roamed the streets of Tokyo, turning into streets I had never heard off despite being here for so long (well since I often spent my time in Animate and other merchandise stores that were mainly based in Akihibara). Thinking I couldn’t possibly get any more lost of confused about ten minutes from walking from my apartment, I was glad to find that the café wasn’t too far from my university campus and that it actually looked pretty nice.

The words ‘Seijoh’ were written in cursive on the large sign hanging above the the front of the shop, the menu pasted in tiny letters at the entrance. The café didn’t have the typical full glass exterior where you could basically see who was in the café but instead had small little window in a European design, tiny curtains hanging from inside and boxes with plastic flowers dangling below each one as I reached to open the door. The golden coloured knob was cold under my touch as I swung the wooden door open, a light tinkling sound filling the air as a woman smiled at my direction.

Had I seen her somewhere?

The woman wore a red apron tied around her waist and her brown hair was twisted in a bun, a smile that immediately helped my nerves of having to venture into a café for the sole purpose of meeting a dude I had met and wished to murder considering he ruined my jacket shining from her face as I slid into one of the booths.

“Hi miss. Welcome to Seijoh café. How can I help you today?”

“Um…” I murmured as I ran a finger through the menu that was propped on my table when the door opened with a tinkle and a familiar voice rang out in the air.

“Hi, Neechan! The usual please!’ Oikawa called as I silently groaned to myself when his eyes fell on me.

“Hey, Coffee-chan! You made it! I was scared that you couldn’t find it since Neechan picked a really random place to open this café. Ouch!” he yelped as his the woman, whom I now realized was his sister slammed a menu over the back of his head.

“Quit it, Tooru! This location isn’t that bad! People have Google Maps to help them find their way around in the world these days so locations doesn’t matter!”

“You know how much trouble I had trying to find this place when I first had to find it? It took me forever just twisting around looking for it!”

“Try and find me a good place with a cheap rent then!”

“I’m paying for your rent with my good looks! Gyah!” he yelped as another whack was sent his way when I noticed a bunch of pictures hung up on one side of the wall, with a white jersey with an aqua blue collar and lines with the number one encased in a glass cupboard and what appeared to be an award glittering beside it. As the two siblings bickered with one another, I got up to go look at the pictures, my eyes narrowing as I recognized a slightly younger Oikawa smiling back from the frames, adorned in the very same volleyball jersey now hanging as a mantle.

The first picture was one of him and three boys carrying a banner with the words ‘Rule the Court’ flying behind them. He had a wide grin on his face as he slung his arm around a tanned guy with spiky hair and a smirk on his face alongside a boy with strawberry coloured hair and another boy with black hair. All four of them wore the same jerseys albeit with different numbers on them, their smiles so wide that I thought they may have just conquered the court for all I knew when my eyes moved to another picture.

This one was of an even younger Oikawa, now decked in a jersey and jacket with dark blue sleeves and collar with the number 1 yet again on his front. He was smiling as he shook hands with an official, holding onto an award for being the Best Setter of the Year in middle school in Miyagi prefecture. The smile on his face was so innocent and pure that I wondered how he managed to develop such a snarky personality in a few years.

My eyes flitted to the few more pictures that were hanging on the wall. Two of them were of him being in teams, one of them with the name “Aoba Johsai volleyball club” printed underneath them. Oikawa had a serious look on his face, his hands clutching his knees as the picture was taken. I guessed he was the captain and that the guy with the permanent scowl was the vice captain. The second picture was one of him in middle school, the name Kitagawa Daiichi written beneath it with Oikawa and Mr Permanent Scowl next to each other. I caught sight of a boy with a slight bowl cut hair standing behind them, his expression a cross between wanting to smile or bounce for joy and wanting to put on a serious face, standing behind the two of them as the picture was taken. I recognized some of the faces in both teams, guessing some of them had either been in the same year or underclassmen who happened to go to the same school as he did.

“Ah, so you saw them? A bit embarrassing if you ask me and I would prefer to keep them in my room but Neechan said it would attract more attention to the fans and they would actually bring her more profit when she prints out more of them,” Oikawa sighed as I realized he was standing right behind me and that he was a bit too close for comfort when I saw a stand with a bunch of pictures similar to the pictures hanging from the walls.

“Are you really that popular? I never heard of you once ever since entering university, not even once,” I said as Oikawa clutched his chest as his sister cackled with laughter behind him.

“That’s a first, Tooru! Normally the girls would be squealing to get their hands on you!” she roared as Oikawa murmured, “That hurt, Neechan.”

“Anyways, how about you two sit down and I will whip up food for you. Of course, you’re paying Tooru after what you did to the poor girl. I would have slapped you if I were her,” his sister grinned as Oikawa slunk to the booth I had been in earlier whilst I followed behind.

I didn’t know if I should tell her that I had wanted to slap him for ruining my jacket yesterday.

“I can’t believe Neechan can be such a brute. I wondered why Atsushi-san even married her,” Oikawa grunted as he slid the menu back into the holder. He wasn’t wearing his volleyball jacket today and had traded it for a dark blue trenchcoat that went to his hips and had a brown scarf wrapped around his throat, although he was now unwrapping it and moving to hook his jacket on the coat rack when he held out a hand.

“Do you want to take off your coat?” he asked as I silently nodded before peeling mine off and handing it to him when I noticed his eyes looking at me a few seconds too long before moving away to put the coats away.

_“Do I look that bad? I mean, I never put any make up on and I don’t exactly wear the latest fashion trends but I thought most guys don’t really care about whats on the outside but rather whats on the inside. Arghh, are they that bad these days?”_ I mentally screamed to myself when Oikawa plunked himself back down in his seat, moving to prop his elbows on the table and lacing his fingers together, his eyes downcast as I wondered if my physical appearance had offended him that much when he said.

“Coffee-chan, are you wearing a Darth Vader jumper?”

I gulped when I realized that I had such a small collection of normal clothing that the only way I could differentiate them is if one of them was full blown ‘fangirl’ mode or ‘slightly fangirl’ related. This one was a grey jumper with a teeny tiny Darth Vader head stitched on my right breast and I thought it was just something he wouldn’t pick out as I mentally cursed myself for not picking out more normal clothing as he suddenly beamed.

“I love Star Wars too!” he grinned as he whipped out his phone to show the cover to me. My heart skipped a beat as I recognized the cover that had the famous saying ‘May the Force be with you’ in English and that my eyes hadn’t deceived me when I saw the light sabers crossed at the bottom of it.

“I never thought I would come across a Star Wars fan! I thought I was about the only one since most of my friends were either only into volleyball or games or other stuff. Not many watch it except for Iwa-chan and he doesn’t like to fanboy about it so its really hard for me to whine and rant whenever I rewatch the shows! Arghh, I can’t believe the final one is coming out in a week! I don’t know if I can live with the fact that the Skywalker saga is coming to an end!” he groaned as I grinned.

“I know right? I can’t believe its been four years already since they came out and I’m so dying to know what happens to Kylo Ren! Will he die like bad guys normally do or will this be a redemption arc for him! Also, did you notice the Knights of Ren that appeared in the trailer??

“Don’t!! I don’t watch trailers! Spare my heart from all the spoilers!”

“Spoilers? Those aren’t considered spoilers and how could you not watch the trailer of a movie? Its what gets you pumped for it!”

“I can’t! My heart would break if I knew what may happen in the film and all the anticipation leading up to me would kill me!”

“Oya, what are you two so pumped up about?” Oikawa’s sister whistled as she brought some food over along with two cups of coffee. While I wasn’t a fan of coffee, I picked it up anyways and brought it to my lips, the drink sending a wave of chills down my spine along with warmth as I squeaked, “This is the best coffee I ever tasted!”

“I know! Neechan makes the best coffee! That’s the only reason this coffee shop has something to show for, other than me of course,” Oikawa grinned as his sister reached for his ear and yanked it hard enough for her brother to yelp and blink back tears.

“Ignore my brother. I’m glad you liked it though… uh… sorry, I don’t think my stupid little brother mentioned your name.”

“Nanami. Uenoyama Nanami,” I said as Oikawa’s eyes lit up.

“Nanami-chan! That’s such a cute name! Gyah!” he yelped as his sister pinched his ear harder.

“Tooru! How could you not ask a girl’s name when you ask her on a date?”

“This…” I started as Oikawa finally managed to wriggle out of his big sister’s grasp.

“I spilled coffee on her yesterday so I invited her over as an apology,” he grunted as my heart hammered. This wasn’t supposed to be a date anyways, I didn’t even think of it as a date but why did I feel so… sad about the fact he had just proven my thoughts on the subject.

Oikawa’s sister sighed as she looked as though she was contemplating to whack him a bit more before finally giving him a rest as she came over to me and gave me a pat on the shoulder.

“I know my kid brother can be really stupid, but don’t mind him. He’s actually a good guy,” she smiled as she finally left us alone to enjoy our meal, humming to herself as she went into the kitchens as I looked at the spread in front of us.

“Well then, Nanami-chan. Guess we should dig in? Its all on me so don’t worry about eating!” Oikawa smiled as I tried not to think he actually looked really good and that I thought the way he squealed in pain was a bit cute.

“Itadakimasu,” I whispered as I reached to scoop up the omurice I had been served when I saw the words that had been written across the top, making me smile for a bit as we dug into the meal.

“May the Force be with you.”

Guessed we were talking a bit too loud after all.

“Now then, Nanami-chan. Where were we about the topic of watching trailers before the movies come out?” Oikawa grinned as I got ready to battle for the movie of my life.


	3. Day 3 : 3 hours of text messages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got sick again arghhh!!! Christmas season isn't doing well for me at the moment.

**14th** **December**

I never thought that our little trip to the coffee shop would result in a string of text messages on the subject of Star Wars and me digging a bit into his life.

Turns out he used to play volleyball from elementary up until now but it wasn’t until he was in his final year of middle school that he actually became somewhat of the legend he was now. Playing for our university along with being on Team Japan with the hopes of playing in the next Olympics, Oikawa was somewhat of an inspiration for volleyball players our age. His teammates also happen to consist of his arc rival, Ushijima Wakatoshi who hailed from Shiratorizawa Academy from Miyagi and was also on team Japan and a guy by the name of Kuroo Tetsurou from Nekoma whom he called his ‘partner in crime’. I had yet to meet any of them and I wondered just how these boys are like.

The internet told me everything I needed to know.

Trying not to think about how much I was acting like a stalker towards these poor guys, my fingers tapped away on the keyboard as the screen brought up a bunch of photos of the Tokyo University men’s volleyball team along with various pictures of Ushijima and Oikawa in their Team Japan uniforms. Ushijima reminded me of someone who practically commanded respect and wore confidence like a skin on himself while Kuroo reminded me of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. His hair was somewhat a creative work of art, black hair jutting from the top of his head and narrowly managing to avoid making him look somewhat like a rooster.

Oikawa on the other hand was all winky and smiley in his pictures, my mind going to how insane his fangirls must be. After doing some digging around, it turned out most of the volleyball players had their own fanclubs and Oikawa had one that ranged from the university all the way to his hometown of Miyagi. I shuddered as I scrolled through the messages fans put up along with some pictures of Oikawa they had snapped and posted online, making me think I wasn’t that bad of a person to look up information on him when I heard a ding coming from my phone.

_“Hey Nanami-chan! You still haven’t told me why you liked Reylo!” his voice practically whined from the phone as I typed back a message to him._

_“They’re the best ship in the world.”_

_“But Kylo Ren is such a crybaby and a madman! How could she love someone who killed her mentor and killed his own father?”  
  
_

_“I don’t know! The fanfictions are great and I do say I’ve written some Reylo stories of my own!”_

When I sent that, I thought it was a bad idea that I had revealed to him that I was actually a fanfiction writer and that somewhat makes me worse as a geek when a emoji expressing surprise and aw came in.

_“You write fanfiction?! That’s so cool! I’ve tried to read a few but I don’t really do it since it can get a little cringey.”_

That must be the first time someone said writing fanfiction is cool.

_“How about the movies? Which one is your favourite? I think the prequels are ok,”_ I typed as an angry response came in right after. I laughed as I imagined Oikawa having a pout on his face as he waved his hands trying to get my attention as I pretended to ignore him.

_“They’re the worse! I don’t know how people can stand Anakin!”_

_“Excuse me! Hayden Christensen’s acting is the best! Don’t you dare say he’s very monotone and expressionless!”_

_“Ah! But he is! That’s why he’s so bad!”_

_“But he played Anakin so well! Don’t you see how amazing he was portraying all the feelings Anakin had buried underneath the surface!”_

_“His kissing sucks!”_   
  


_“I don’t care about his kissing dammit, Shittykawa!”_

I clamped my mouth as I typed out the nickname, not even pausing to think twice as I sent it out to him that I probably shouldn’t have said something like that considering we weren’t even that close when laughing emoji came back to me moments later.

_“Iwa-chan calls me that all the time.”_

From all the conversations I had with him, which was not long since I only known him for three days, I gauged that Iwa-chan aka Iwaizumi Hajime washis childhood best friend who was studying in a different university in Tokyo. Both of them were staying together in the same flat not too far from the university, even though it meant Iwaizumi needed to take a bus to his university which was on the other side of Tokyo just so Oikawa could go to practices and classes more easily.

Must be nice to have a best friend like that.

After having a three hour ish long argument with Oikawa about the prequels being good and not as bad as people said they would be, I finally turned to focus on my work, cracking my fingers as I did so as I scrolled through the pdf of the story I had sent to some publishing houses a month or so back and had gotten pretty nasty responses for as I prepared to send to yet another one.

On the side of studying to be a psychologist, I spent much of my free time writing when I could. Often I just wrote random fanfictions of characters I loved and shipped myself with along with some full blown mad crossovers I had done when I got inspired by fanart done on Tumblr and had to write to fuel my inner fangirl. After Oikawa had commented how cool it was that I did it, I felt a little urge to just try my luck once more with the book I had sent out to publishers as I tried to block out the comments that I had received from them.

_The story is too bland._

_This story wouldn’t sell as it is not catered for the market._

_Please try another publishing company. We do not do this kind of stories._

_What do you think we are? A charity? We don’t publish books for authors who haven’t made the cut._

I quickly shook off those thoughts as I hit the send button to the company I was looking at. It was a rather small one but I didn’t mind as long as I could get my name out in the market. I was around the maximum age range they would help me publish my book at and I prayed they would at least give me some good news considering they were a small and new company that not many people know off.

I knew I shouldn’t get my hopes up but I just needed the tiny ray of hope in my life for the future that seemed to bleak to me now.

I cracked my joints, stretching as I got to work, typing away as I tried to imagine a story that would one day reach the shelves of bookstores in the country and people would come to love.

…

Instead of writing a story, I ended up writing another fanfiction in speculation for the latest star wars movie that made me itch to rewatch them all over again, even if it meant blowing away about 24 hours of my life. When I was done, I smirked thinking of how Oikawa would react about me writing that Reylo got together in the end and how devastated he would be as I sent him the link to him, just to piss him off.

It was already ten at night and my head was spinning from writing 10,000 words in three hours when I heard a message coming in. I was close to collapse from the splitting headache I had no from writing none stop and not eating or drinking throughout the evening that I thought I would read it the next day when I grabbed my phone to see it.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw the message Oikawa had sent me.

“It was so good! I may not like Reylo in the beginning but now… I think you might have convinced me to like them. Aww, they’re so cute in the story and I think I might finally be convinced about this ship sailing,” Oikawa wrote along with a few crying emojis. My heart fluttered thinking of how someone had written a comment, something I took very seriously and proudly as not all the time people actually showed how much they liked to read stories and comments were just about the only way I could get feedback on my work.

I had received pretty nasty ones in the past and hope I wouldn’t have to get them again. Oikawa may have been the very first person I have ever told about my fanfiction writing hobbies and Star Wars fantasies that I found myself typing out the message and sending it before I could even process it.

“I wrote a book called Metamorphosis about a girl who is stuck in a digital game world after being caught in an accident with her schoolmates and now has to fight for her life to get out, only to turn on her schoolmates trapped in the game for all the things they did to her in the past. It’s a bit dark and the characters do die, but if you want…” I could almost see myself murmuring the words as I hit the sent button when alarm bells went off in my head.

_Why would someone I just met want to read my story? He’s got so much to do with volleyball and university in his hands so why was he even entertaining a girl like me who only likes anime and Star Wars? I write fanfiction too and that just makes me more of a geek than anything and I don’t know if he is just trying to be nice or if he pities me. Oh lord, if he tells anyone about it…_

I hated it when I catastrophised about things. I kept thinking how bad things could go if I ever told someone what I did and how they would be out to ruin my life with the information.

A ding told me Oikawa had replied and I shakily moved to get the phone when I saw the message he wrote.

“Really?! You wrote a book?! That’s so cool! Send it to me and I will read it tomorrow after my practice match! Wait a minute, have you ever been to a practice match?”

“Does it look like I have?”

“Haha, didn’t think so. How about this? Tokyo University is playing against Tokyo Metropoliton University tomorrow and Iwa-chan is going to be playing against us. If you want to see us in action, which you definitely want to, you can come by the sport centre at 10am tomorrow.”

“I don’t do sports… do I have to pay for it?”

“Nah nah! Its free! please, Nanami-chan!” I could feel him pouting and showing puppydog eyes as I typed yes before thinking twice, cursing myself at how I wouldn’t be able to understand what the hell was going on but was going to go anyway.

When I finally turned off my phone after being bombarded with a wave of kissing emojis from Oikawa, I settled to lying on my back on the bed, my phone dropping next to me as I looked at the characters staring down at me from above. I had never spent so long texting someone on the phone and somehow, it didn’t feel all too bad and actually felt quite nice.

Was this how it was like to have a friend?

Somehow, I managed to fall asleep dreaming of Reylo finally getting together and for some reason, of Oikawa playing on the court and how his body flew through the air as he set the ball, a grin on his face as I cheered for him from the stands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if I keep ranting about Star Wars stuff in this pic but with the movie coming in a few days, just can't keep my inner fangirl in!


	4. Day 4 : 4 new volleyball idiots

**15th December**

The gym was much more crowded than I thought it would be considering it was just a practice match. Most of the stands were filled with people, mostly girls with banners and fans with the pictures of various atheletes screaming their names as the players lingered around the sides of the court.

“Oikawa-san!” a bunch of girls squealed as I squeezed past them, trying to find a place to sit where I could actually see when I saw Oikawa turning his head to look at me before a grin spread across his face.

“Nanami-chan! Go sit with Kenma-chan over there! He’s saved a seat for you!” he called as some of the girls shot glares in my direction for having him call me directly. Cursing girls for being jealous over the most random things, I tried to find this Kenma person when I noticed someone decked in a black hoodie with puddinglike hair looking straight at me, his eyes slits like a cat’s as I gulped.

“Are you Kenma-san?”

“Kenma is fine. You’re Nanami-san?”

I nodded as he allowed me to sit next to him, my butt plonking down on the plastic seat as I peeled off my scarf, glad that they at least put on the heating in the gym or else I would be frozen. Outside was snowing and I nearly slipped and broke my neck on multiple occasions just to get there. Kenma didn’t look any happier than I did, his eyes fixed on the Nintendo Switch in his hands now that he had managed to find me.

“Oh, you play SAO on the switch? I had a hard time trying to play it,” I said, trying to find something to say to him when I realized that if I were in his shoes, I hated to have someone talking to me and breaking my concentration whilst I played my game.

“Its not too hard once you’ve mastered the basics,” Kenma murmured as he turned it off and slipped it into his backpack. The guy looked like he wanted out of there as soon as he can, his eyes darting across the court as though trying to look for someone when Kuroo, the guy with the bad hairdo grinned and waved to him from below. Kenma turned red at the contact as I saw Kuroo making his way to the other side of the court, clapping a hand on the shoulder of a guy with owlish hair, both team colours clashing as they hugged one another.

“You know Kuroo?” I asked as Kenma sighed.

“We used to play volleyball in Nekoma High School together.”

“Oh, so you play it?”

“Used to. Now I just play for the exercise rather than for competitions. They have a good setter already and I prefer to do my gaming and online endeavours,” he murmured as his gaze turned to a guy standing next to the owl dude, his eyes slightly narrowed as he urged the man to go warmup before the match while nodding towards Kuroo as a polite gesture.

“Kuroo knows the other team?”

“Quite a few people from our high school days went to Tokyo Metropoliton for university. Bokuto and Akaashi-san are playing for it along with Iwaizumi-san.”

“Oh, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa’s voice rang out on cue as he ran towards his best friend, who still had the same scowl etched on his face as he did as a teenager. Oikawa swung onto him as the fans squealed from the stands, my mind going to if anyone actually shipped them together as Iwaizumi groaned, “Hey stupidkawa! Get off!”

“I haven’t seen you in ages, Iwa-chan!”  
  


“We live together! We see each other all the time!”  
  


“But not as much as I want to! Give me some love, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa groaned as the girls squealed even louder, my fingers moving to plug my ears as the two of them wrestled below for control before Ushijima, who was as tall and imposing as ever came in and dragged Oikawa to his side of the court, the other boy grumbling to get his hands off him as Ushijima ignored him.

“Don’t worry. They’re like that all the time. I wonder how they even live together considering they fight so much,” Kenma muttered as the whistle blew, members of both teams gathering on either side in a long row before strodding to the net to meet one another. One side was a wave of white and dark blue, the colour of Tokyo Uni while the other bore white, gold and silver, the colours of Tokyo Metropoliton as they bowed to each other, shouting “Let’s have a good game!” before the captains came forward to shake hands.

“Look forward to beating you on the court, even though we’re on Team Japan,” Bokuto, the guy with the owlish hair grinned as Ushijima didn’t even looked fazed.

“Now, you’re not my teammate. Therefore, I have no qualms in beating you.”

“Oh, touché.”

Both captains gripped each other’s hands so hard I thought it would be possible for them to snap if it weren’t for the referee tossing a coin into the air to slap it on the top of his hand.

“What is he doing?” I whispered to Kenma as the two captains called either ‘heads’ or ‘tails’. Bokuto had picked tails while Ushijima picked heads.

“To determine which side of the court they are on.”

Bokuto let out a whoop as the referee showed tails, choosing their side of the court as Ushijima duly went back to his team to tell the results. As they discussed with their coaches about what to do next, I quickly confided with Kenma about the rules of the game, praying I wasn’t pissing him off as he carefully and slowly explained it in simple detail.

“There are six players on the court at one time. Normally there will be a libero on the team, who is the player with a different jersey colour from the rest. They can only stand on the back row of the court and are professionals in defending the court. They can’t set of spike, but they are essential in protecting the court, getting the balls missed. There are four positions; libero, setter, spiker and setter. Whenever each team wins, they rotate clockwise on the court. You can only hit the ball three times before having to send it over and you are not allowed to touch the net.”

My mind felt a bit overwhelmed with the information as the team got into position. Oikawa was standing in the front row of the court, his expression serious for once as Bokuto got ready to serve on the other side. Bokuto’s grin was wild and energetic as he tossed the ball high into the air, running as he swung his arms forwards, stepping forward as he swung his arms behind to leap in the air. I could almost see a great horned owl flying through the sky, its mighty wings outstretched as it aimed for the ball, Bokuto’s hand hitting the ball as it rocketed through the sky towards the other side of the court as Kuroo received the ball.

“Yes!” I squeaked as the ball fly through the air. Oikawa was underneath it before I knew it, his hands moving to toss the ball in an arc towards Ushijima. The sound the ball made as it touched his fingers sounded almost magically, the light tapping filling the air as Ushijima rose like a beast and spiked it across the other court, the ball rocketing through the air as the other libero barely managed to receive it as the ball went to Akaashi, who was the other setter as he called out, “Bokuto-san!”

“Hey hey hey!” Bokuto yelled as he spiked the ball, the ball slamming across the other side as a player from Tokyo University managed to receive it. The game was intense, the ball sailing from side to side without any looks of stopping. Everyone was on their feet, wanting to shout for their team to win and cheer their favourite player but afraid of doing so in case they broke their concentration. I could feel my breath hitch every time the ball nearly hit the ground, only for someone to save it as I clutched my chest.

Volleyball. It was so intense.

To not drop the ball lest your whole team lost, I can’t imagine the burden that it must have to be on a team.

But… these teams. They were very strong in their own right.

I remembered a saying from somewhere, it could have been Oikawa telling me that as I saw him rising to meet the ball as his teammate dug it out. The ball rose into the air, the light bright as Oikawa focused on the ball before reaching to get it.

_“A setter is the control tower of the team. It controls the tosses for spikes and organizes the offense. In essence, its like a conductor leading the orchestra.”_

I could almost imagine Oikawa in a tuxedo, waving the conductor’s baton in his hand as he waved it, telling which person to do with a flick of his wrist. Almost like the way a commander tells his men what to do on the battlefield, or a king telling his subjects his commands for his kingdom.

Oikawa never wavered as he sent out toss after toss to his teammates, each one precise and essential for the team to win. I could see Iwaizumi on the other side, his eyes screaming for Oikawa to toss to him even though they were no longer on the same team and the pain behind them as his team lost to Oikawa’s, trying his best not to grit his teeth as Oikawa pulled him into a hug from across the net, whispering something to him that vaguely sounded like “You should have gone to the same university as me, dummy.”

The practice match lasted a good two hours and most of the players looked ready to have a good sleep as the audience poured out of the stands. I lingered behind with Kenma, both of us going to the court to meet the players as Kuroo came over and gave Kenma a rub on the head.

“Shove off Kuroo. You stink.”

“Come on, Kenma. At least be grateful you get to meet some of the stars of the game.”

“I’ve known you since we were kids, Kuroo. This doesn’t make much of a difference.”

“Hey hey hey! Kenma, you came to watch!” Bokuto grinned as he came over with Akaashi, who gave a slight nod to me as his partner fussed over Kenma who wriggled out of his arms to get away from the stink he emitted when Kuroo and Bokuto’s eyes raked over me.

“Oya oya oya? Who is this little kitten?” Kuroo grinned as I tried not to shudder.

“She’s Oikawa’s friend.”

“I’m Nanami. Good game,” I said as I gave a little bow as Bokuto gawked, “Oikawa never told me he had a girlfriend! That’s not fair!”

“Bokuto-san, she didn’t say that she is his girlfriend.”

“Then why do you think a cute girl would come and see him after a match?!” Bokuto hooted as Kuroo dragged him away to avoid making me more uncomfortable. Despite not knowing these guys, I felt that I could actually get along well with them, once they’re free from sweat and actually got a good chat with them. Kenma nodded as he walked away with Kuroo, leaving me to greet Oikawa and Iwaizumi. They stank just as bad as the others and I tried not to grimace when Oikawa tried to pull me into a hug before Iwaizumi slammed a hand into the back of his head.

“Whats that for, Iwa-chan?!”

“No girl wants to be hugged by a sweaty guy.”

“But I still look good! Its all about the intention right?”

“Shut it, Shittykawa,” Iwaizumi groaned as he turned to me, his frown slowly dissipating into somewhat of a smile as he bobbed his head.

“I’m Iwaizumi Hajime. Thank you for taking care of this idiot for me. I heard he’s been causing a lot of trouble for you.”

“Well, he did ruin one of my jackets and messaged me for three hours yesterday.”

“Guys, why do you keep hurting my fragile heart?” Oikawa whined as Ushijims came up from behind him, Oikawa turning slightly pale as Iwaizumi growled as Ushijima said, “Oikawa, I need to discuss with you what you did wrong during the game.  
  
“Come on, Ushiwaka-chan! I’m having a moment here!”

The giant didn’t wait as he scooped Oikawa in his arms bridal style and took him away from us, the other boy hollering about free will to do as he pleased as Iwaizumi tried to suppress a smile. I felt a little odd being with the best friend of a guy I just met not long ago but after hearing all the stories from Oikawa about Iwaizumi being a caveman of sorts, I thought he wasn’t too bad.

“Nanami, that guy may be an idiot, but he means well,” he said as he turned his focus to me, the court now nearly empty of people as Iwaizumi grinned, his grin making him look much more handsome than before as he continued.

“Take care of him for me, although he doesn’t really deserve someone like you to take care of his ass.”

“Uh… we’re not dating.”

Iwaizumi smiled as he looked at where Oikawa was trying to get away from Ushijima, the other player having him pinned with nowhere to run. Oikawa looked ready to cry as the other player spoke to him, Iwaizumi grinning as he turned to face me.

“Well, he seemed rather fond of you to me. He’s been talking none stop about how he finally managed to find a Star Wars fan.”

Somehow, the comment left me a little taken aback and almost happy that he had said something like that about me. I tried not to think about it as I said my goodbyes to Iwaizumi, leaving Oikawa in the mercy of Ushijima, wondering what was this feeling I had in my chest as I walked into the busy streets of Tokyo.


	5. Day 5 : 5 letters of rejection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to be warned, some bits in this chapter might be a bit triggering for some people. When I was writing this, I thought I might include some bits of my own journey as a writer and how I might have reacted to it in certain manners. 
> 
> Therefore, if you aren't a fan of someone trying to commit self harm and what not, you may not want to continue (I know this story is supposed to be Christmasy and all but can't leave out the real life aspect of how life can do shit to us.)
> 
> Did I forget to mention Rise of Skywalker is released today?

**16th December**

I thought this day would be as peaceful as it could be and that this could actually be the best five days of my life.

Oh no. Life could never be as good as it can get.

Despite having just met Oikawa, I found myself opening up to him more than I ever did with anyone, even with my own parents. I found myself texting him on Line every so often of the most random things I ever did, from what fan theories I found about Star Wars to the story I had sent in. I didn’t know why I told him about it considering he was a volleyball player and didn’t look that much of a reader, but I found myself telling him about it and even sending him the entire story, which he managed to finish in a single day.

He had then proceeded to bombard me with questions about it and how I could write something so tragic and sad. I just sent him a lot of evil smiles and giggles about this is what happens when you watch too many dark anime and shows and the world treats you like shit. To be fair, I thought it would actually be something that could be read by others as nowadays, the conventional happy ever after stories are just too cheesy for a world full of sadness and sorrow.

“You gotta tell me more about it face to face,” Oikawa whined from the phone as I sighed. I can’t believed he had called me since he said he was too lazy to continue typing and that talking was much faster. Despite how his voice originally annoyed the heck out of me with how high pitched it sounded and how he whined like a baby, I came to find it somewhat soothing and even wished I could hear it more instead of the silence of my room and the sound of my own breath.

“Calm down. I will let you know more about it.”

“What do you mean?! I’ve already read the thing so you’re not technically spoiling me!”

As I clicked away at my laptop. I heard the sound of an email coming in when I recognized the name of the publishing company I had sent to just a few days prior on top of it. My heart hammered as I told Oikawa to hold up for a little bit, earning a near pout, if that was even possible to pick up from the phone, moving to hover my finger over the mouse as I prayed to the gods it was good news.

I’ve had four rejections in the span of four months. I prayed that this would at least be good news.

Slowly, I clicked the email, my eyes scanning through it as my heart dropped seeing the message written on it.

_Dear Nanami,_

_Thanks for your recent book submission Metamorphosis and thanks for your patience while we’ve considered your submission._

_We’ve carefully considered your submission and unfortunately we won’t be taking your story further as it is difficult for us to see where to pitch your book in the market in its current form. Our decision shouldn’t deter you from contacting other publishers or self-publishing your book._

My heart dropped as my hand fell to my side, my other hand moving to close the laptop shut as Oikawa chirped from the other end, “Nanami-chan, is everything alright?”

I didn’t say anything as I gripped my face, the tears finally coming out as I sobbed, rocking my body to and fro in my seat as the crackle from the phone filled the silence alongside my sobs. This time was worse as I felt my heart tear to pieces, this being the fifth time I had been rejected in the span of a few months.

What had gone wrong? What had I done wrong? Why did they reject me?

Why did everyone reject me?

“Nanami-chan?”

“They rejected me. They really did rejected me.”

“Nanami-chan! What happened?! Who rejected you?”

“The publishing company. They said by book isn’t worth selling.”

No. I shouldn’t tell him anymore of this. This isn’t his problem.

It was my sin and mine alone.

“Please, leave me alone, Oikawa.”

“Are you ok? You sound like you’re crying…”

“Leave me alone, Oikawa!” I screamed as I pressed the end button on the phone, my sobbing turning into full out crying as I screamed, pulling my hair as I wailed, not knowing what to do as inhuman screams tore from my throat. At this point, I was just letting lose all the pain I had in me, letting the world know all the pain I had felt about it.

Why did they always reject me? What is so wrong with my stories? I had seen worse being published by dirtbag people who can’t write and people said they’re amazing?

I worked so hard on this and was so proud of it, why did no one like it?

It was as though I was a mother who had given birth to a child and the world was telling me the child was born wrong and wouldn’t except it. Like any mother, I was willing to do anything to protect my child and be proud of it, no matter what people thought of it.

So why? Why reject me for something I tried so hard in?

_“Okasan!Otosan! Look! I won this story competition!” I squealed as I ran up to my parents. I had to be about twelve, my twin pigtails bouncing on my head as she turned to look at the certificate along with the printout of the story the school had given to me._

_Even as a child, I spent way too much time writing random stories, cutting out and fashioning tiny booklets and pocket files to write stories in. Slowly, these turned into short stories to essays. The more I immersed myself in the fictional world and learned more about the vast worlds that existed in books, I found myself wanting to create one that would lead people to love them the way I did._

_Like J.K. Rowling, Furudate-sensei, Horikoshi-sensei, Cassandra Clare, how I wished to be like them._

_So I tried writing, producing whatever came to my mind and writing it down. No matter where I was, I wrote and wrote in the tiny notebook I brought with me, fleshing out ideas with the childlike mind I had. I thought I could create something amazing, change the world through fiction, but in the end… it was all for naught._

_All they had done was look at the certificate, not even glancing at the story as my father turned to look at me._

_“Nanami, what do you want to do with this?”_

_“I want to be a writer and write a lot of books and make people happy!”_

_“But with that, can you earn enough money?”_

_“Yes! J.K. Rowling has a lot of money and manga artists do as well…”_

_“But how many of them have actually made it? What makes you think you can be in their ranks?”_

_Even as a child, I knew I had been rejected. My mother didn’t do anything to stop my father as I ran to my room, sobbing as I tried to figure out why they had said something like that to me? I knew what I wanted to do now, so why weren’t they helping me?_

_I tried again._

_And again._

_And again._

_All the way to high school, I wrote in any way I can. My teachers were happy with my work and thought I should pursue writing as a career, but my parents were against it. At every parent-teacher meeting, it ended up with them saying I will never survive as a writer._

_And as the obedient daughter, the only thing that could free me of this pain was to take refuge in the world of fantasy and anime. There, the characters would never hurt me._

_Because they weren’t real._

_“Nanami! Why can’t you see the picture?! You’re in your own fantasy world, talking as though you are living in… anime,” she said the word with disgust as she held the cane above my head. I was cowering in the corner, my hands covered with marks from the beating as my father stood at the doorway, not stopping even as his wife landed hit after hit on his daughter, who curled into a ball and wished she disappeared._

_“Why? Why couldn’t I have a child who wanted to be normal? To have realistic dreams? Why did I have to have one who cannot escape from the fantasy world? What have I done? What have I done?” my mother shrieked as I sobbed, asking the Gods one simple question._

Why did you make me who I am?

_Ever since then, I never told anyone about my writing. I applied to the school they wished me to apply, hoping to make them happy by doing the course they deemed alright to study. Even then, they had wishes for me to be a doctor or engineer, even an accountant when I was already struggling with my course. Behind their backs, I wrote and wrote, determined to prove to them that if they wouldn’t support me, those in the publishing world might._

_How wrong I was._

My phone buzzed as Oikawa tried to call me back, his name flashing on the screen as I sobbed, not wanting to answer it as it went to voicemail. His voice filled the air as he spoke, his words somehow managing to calm me down as he said, “Nanami, you can talk about anything to me. Please, let me know if you’re alright.”

“Nanami, please call me back.”

“Nanami, I’m really worried now! I want to go over and just knock on your door and see if you’re ok. Drat, I don’t know your address!”

“Nanami!”

“Nanami!”

I pressed my hands over my ears, wishing he would stop calling me. Why was a stranger like him going so far to help me? My own family didn’t even care about my wellbeing? Why… why…

“Why am I even alive?” I whispered as I turned to the drawer, the weapon I often used to try and harm myself hiding away beneath layers of cloth. My hand reached out for it, wanting to let the metal slice away at my pain as I gripped the drawer hard before releasing it, instead moving to my bed where I curled up into a ball, sobbing as I chanted the mantra over and over in my mind.

“I’m useless.”

“No one wants me.”

“I should be dead.”

“I want to be dead.”

…

“Shit,” Oikawa swore as he put his phone on the table much harder than he should have. Iwaizumi looked up from the pile of textbooks he had piled on their kitchen table, his glasses perched from his nose as he looked up from studying for his medical exam. While Oikawa often called him a gorilla with no brains, he had actually been in a college prep class during their Aoba Johsai days and was actually pretty bright.

“Is something wrong? You’ve been pacing,” Iwaizumi grunted as he cracked his joints, his body stiff from studying for hours as he looked at his best friend’s face.

“Hey Oikawa. She will be alright. You don’t have to worry about her too much.”

“Nanami-chan is very fragile. She thinks she’s alright but I can feel underneath the layers, she’s actually a very scared person who doesn’t like to open up to others.”

“You’re over-thinking it Oikawa.”

“Hey, I study Sports Psychology so that has to add up to something!”  
  


“Not like you can mindread.”

“Shut up, gorilla!”

“Shittykawa.”

Oikawa groaned as he ran his fingers through his hair. He didn’t want to tell his best friend that he first noticed Nanami in one of their lectures, her eyes always glued to a book or lost in her little world through her music. When he saw that she was a fan of Star Wars and wanted to talk to someone about the Last Jedi so badly after he was stumped when it came out, he tried everything to get her attention but to no avail. Nanami wasn’t someone who talked to anyone, or wanted to talk to.

He thought she would actually look pretty cute without the scowl she had on her face that vaguely mirrored Iwaizumi’s and that she actually had a very unique fashion sense he wished he had guts to wear. He had more Star Wars merch he cared to admit but never dared to wear in public due to not wanting to draw attention to being a geek but she wore it loud and proud.

He admired her for that and now, he didn’t want to see her spiraling down the rabbit hole after what happened on the phone.

“I’m going to find her,” Oikawa snapped as Iwaizumi flicked a pencil at him.

“You’re going to be breaking and entering. Do you want to be arrested?”

“To hell with that! She could be in trouble for all we know!” Oikawa snapped as he picked up his phone, this time dialing the number of a certain setter as a voice groaned from the other end.

“I thought I told you to text me only.”

“Kenma-chan, I need your help. Do you know how to hack onto a university database?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The letter included in the chapter was actually the email I received when my story was rejected by the publisher. So yeah, random fun fact.
> 
> Finally going to watch Star Wars Rise of Skywalker tomorrow! I won't spoil anything or leak any information on the movie, dont worry! I'm not a fan of spoilers and would murder anyone who spoils something for me so yes, not going to be an ass and do the same.


	6. Day 6 : 6 hours of lamenting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another warning in case you're not a fan of self harm. Some might happen in this chapter so if you want to skip, you can skip it.

**17th December**

My lip quivered as I lay under my bedsheets, the blade still in my grasp. I had slid my hand underneath a pillow to keep it out of my sight but with my hands curled around the handle, it didn’t stop me from wanting to pull it out and plunging it into my chest the way they do in the movies.

The only problem was that while the actors live to tell the tale in the movies, I won’t be getting resurrected any time soon.

Despite that, I just wanted it all to end. All the pain, all the suffering of having to be rejected by the people around me, of never fitting in with the crowd.

I hated it.

I hated it so much I could just open the window and scream at the top of my lungs of all the things I hated about the world.

To conform to a society that may never even accept you just because you like something different.

To be the child your parents wanted for the sake of keeping up their reputation.

For being a person who studies something which is deemed suitable for the nation.

In the beginning, I did choose psychology because I wanted to help people who suffered the same thing as me, of not being able to get help because of the stigma but over time, I began to wonder why I had done so? Why had I gone on to study something so difficult where the people around me are so smart and always able to do things right?

People like...

“Oikawa, why did you like me?” I whispered as the tears came out once more, damping my face as I sniffled. I hated myself for doing this to myself all the time.

No one would see the hurt I put on myself unless I do something drastic.

No one will bother about me hating them since they won’t even know I hated them.

No one will know the pain I felt deep in my gut until I showed the world just how much pain I was going through.

I remembered Oikawa’s carefree smile, surrounded by his fans, always able to get what he wants, his life already in motion as he conquered the world of volleyball. How I wanted to be like him, to be able to stand tall and proud and do what I loved most.

Even then, I had been rejected. My writing had been rejected.

It was as though I had been rejected.

No more.

No more.

No more.

“No more,” I whispered as I heard a beeping sound fill the darkened room followed by the rumbling of my tummy.

I hadn’t eaten the entire day, my hunger having been diminished from reading the email for earlier. What was the point of making sure my body was alive even when I am not producing anything useful? Might as well just rot and waste away like I should.

No one wanted me.

Slowly, I picked up the phone that lay by my side the entire day, the whole night having had been spent dreaming of getting rejected by everyone else in my life. I dreamed of Oikawa leaving me behind along with his friends, my screams doing nothing as I plunged into the darkness to fall into eternal blackness. As I slammed and tried to find my way out, I realized I couldn’t.

I had no way out.

“Oikawa. I’m sorry,” I wrote, a message immediately pinging in.

“What for, Nanami?”

“I don’t deserve to be here. I’m of no use. I cannot get anything right. I don’t know what to do with myself.”

“Nanami… calm down, we’ll figure something out.”

We? There’s no we. We’re not even a couple. Not even friends probably.

“I’m sorry, Oikawa,” I typed before flinging my phone onto the bed, wishing I could block out the stream of messages entering. I grabbed the phone to silence it, but not before looking at the messages that Oikawa had sent.

“Nanami, please, let’s talk about this.”

“I’m very worried about what you just said.”

“Don’t do anything.”

“Please, I beg you.”

“Nanami, please call me.”

“I’m worried about you.”

“Nanami-chan,” a voice called as I closed my eyes, picturing Oikawa sitting across me in Seijoh café, his smile wide as he ranted on about how he found Jar Jar Binks the most comical character in the world. His smile brought light to my dark world and even gave me a slight hope that maybe I might have found a friend in him.

Maybe I was wrong.

_He wouldn’t want you as a friend._

_Why would someone as handsome and popular as Oikawa want a friend like you?_

_You’ve only met up five times since you’ve known him. You think he acknowledges you as a friend?_

“Shut up!” I screamed as I threw the covers over my head, my body shaking as I whipped the knife from under my pillow, the blade glinting in the darkness as I breathed hard. My breath was shaky as I brought the blade to my wrist, the metal hovering over my skin as I thought, just for a moment, of how Oikawa. Iwaizumi. Kenma. Kuroo.

How would they all feel if I died?

Well, this isn’t a shoujo manga. No one is going to save me. I’m not the heroine who deserved to be saved and live a happily ever after. I was no one. Not even an extra in my own world.

I was nothing.

After sitting in bed without moving for hours, night had finally fallen over Tokyo. My room got even darker than normal, darkness covering me as I stared at the knife one more time, picturing of how much of a mess this would bring.

Whatever, they deserved hell for giving hell to me.

I brought the knife to my chest, pointing it to hover over my heart as I steadied myself. This time, I would do it. After so many failed attempts, now, I finally saw a reason to do it. I wasn’t needed anymore in this world anymore.

Not even…

“Oikawa. Forgive me. I enjoyed your company for these past five days,” I whispered as my hand moved, the knife piercing my shirt just as I heard a shout coming from outside along with some banging.

“Nanami-chan! Are you alright?”

Oikawa?

…

“Kenma, have you found it?” Oikawa breathed as he bit at his fingernails, a bad habit he thought he had managed to get rid off years ago back in high school. Whenever he was nervous, he used to do it, biting his nails to the quick until Iwaizumi told him he was never going to practice volleyball with him after he bit his nails and handled the ball, with the possibility of coating his saliva over it. That made him stop but now, it had come back without him realizing it.

“Hey Shittykawa! You’re going to get yourself and Kenma arrested for this! You can’t go hacking onto the school’s database just to get the address of a girl whom you’ve barely even know!” Iwaizumi grunted as Oikawa tried not to slam his hand into the wall.

He knew what could happen when someone didn’t manage to get what they wanted. He had nearly done the same thing too back when he was in middle school, training every day until his knee nearly gave out. The sting he felt in it nearly every time he leaped into the air was the testimony of his careless actions.

If Iwaizumi and his teammates in Aoba Johsai hadn’t stopped him, he might not even be playing volleyball today.

When he met Kageyama Tobio, he thought the boy was an amazing genius and on route to be a setter. But over time, he began to grow jealous at how effortless Kageyama seemed to be in picking up volleyball, always absorbing in all the information and techniques without batting an eye. Soon, he was even better than he was and Oikawa’s fears of being benched were coming to past.

Everything snapped in him when Kageyama spoke to him on the day he was benched during a game he played badly in.

_“Oikawa-san, can you teach me how to jump serve?”_

_The boy had looked so hopeful, so innocent._

_And Oikawa had taken it all and tainted him for the rest of his middle school days, resulting in a chain reaction for Kageyama to lose the ability to cooperate with others._

_In his selfish act, he had ruined the life of his kohai._

_“Oikawa! Get your head in the game!_ _Do you think you’re fighting by yourself?! You’ve got to be kidding, you dumbass! If you think how you’re doing equals how the team will do, I‘ll punch you! There’s no one on our team who can beat Ushiwaka one-on-one! However, there are six players on the volleyball court! Even if our opponent’s some genius first-year or Ushiwaka, the team with the better six is stronger, you dumbass!” Iwaizumi had screamed, his eyes furious as he held back his best friend._

_Oikawa had been grateful to him for those words. If he had allowed him to hit Kageyama, he might have been ruined as a player forever and who knows, he might have even taken his own life._

_But he didn’t._

_Because he had friends._

Oikawa pressed the name one more time, the ringing tone this time cutting short to the mechanical voice that filled his ear as it sent chills down his spine.

“The number you are calling is not reachable.”

_Shit. Shit. Nanami!_ He swore as he glanced at the clock. It had been nearly two hours since Kenma had tried to crack into the system. He was no hacker and needed help from a few people to get on the system without getting detected.

He didn’t care if his entire future would be ruined for digging personal confidential information.

All he wanted was for Nanami to be safe.

When the clock struck 11.45pm, Kenma finally sent Oikawa the message he had been hoping for. The address shone on his screen, his fingers flying to type it into Google maps as he grabbed his coat, stuffing his feet into his shoes as he dashed out of the door, leaving Iwaizumi to mutter to himself to not do anything stupid as he ran into the night.

As his feet slapped against the pavement, he couldn’t stop thinking of how he might find Nanami.

He could almost imagine her on the ground, covered with her own blood or maybe hanging from the ceiling, her limp body hanging as he screamed her name.

He reached to call the police but negated not to since it would lead to more problems.

He may be the only one Nanami could rely on now.

He shoved past some people, not caring or stopping to apologise as some yelled remarks at him. He didn’t care about manners at this point, only if Nanami was safe. Luckily, he had been to her area before since his sister lived there with her family and he managed to find her apartment relatively quickly with Google maps. He took two steps at a time, wincing as his bad knee screamed in pain. If he kept going…

No. Nanami was more important.

“Nanami!” he yelled as he reached the top of the stairs, racing to the unit all the way at the end of the corridor. He panted as he stopped in front of it, trying to peep inside only to be met by darkness. Oikawa raised his fist as he slammed it against the door, screaming her name without caring if he woke the neighbours. He could wake up the whole neighbourhood for all he cared.

“Naname! Are you alright?!” he yelled as he stopped to hear for any movement when he finally heard the sound of padding footsteps walking towards the door. His heart leaped in relief for just a moment when the door swung open to reveal a tear-stricken Nanami, a knife shining in her grasp as she looked at him like he was a ghost before whispering.

“Oikawa?”


	7. Day 7 : 7 hours of being together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok. I watched Rise of skywalker last night and damn... at least now I have the inspiration to write the final chapters of this fanfic. I was so pissed and agitated that I wrote an alternate ending to the movie so if you've watched it and want a bit of peace, you can check out my story 'Rise of the Skywalker' under my profile (DO NOT READ IT IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED IT!)
> 
> So without further ado, here is chapter 7 of this story.

**18th December**

“Oikawa?” I whispered as I stared at the boy standing in front of my door. He looked like he had run a marathon, sweat covering his body that was clad in sweatpants, a shirt with a picture of the alien from ET on the front and a hastily pulled on jacket that didn’t match at all with his clothes and a pair of trainers. His face was flushed and his hair plastered to the sides of his face as his brown eyes trekked from my face to the knife in my hand.

“Nanami… what are you doing?” he whispered as I opened to my mouth to speak but I couldn’t find my voice.

How could I tell him I wanted to kill myself?  
  


“Were you about to harm yourself?” he whispered as he moved to grip my hands, quickly whacking the hand holding onto the knife. The knife clattered onto the ground as he shoved me into the flat, his eyes livid even in the darkness of the entrance as he kicked the door shut behind us and gripped me hard.

“What the hell were you thinking?! I thought you really did do something stupid and I was right! I’m glad I actually called Kenma to find out more information about where you lived on the school database which might get us into a load of shit but I don’t care! How could you do such a thing to yourself, Nanami?!”

I was surprised to see tears springing from his own eyes, his face wrinkling in the darkness as his grip slackened from my shoulders ever so slightly as he sobbed.

“Nanami, don’t you ever once think that no one needs you in this world! You’re an amazing person who fangirls about Star Wars without any shame and wears the most crazy shirts and jumpers I’ve ever seen! You write about the worse ships without any shame and without holding back on the details and I admire you for that! I admire how you always attend every lecture on your own, sitting in the front and taking notes diligently without stopping! Uenoyama Nanami, don’t you ever. Ever! Do something like this again.”

At that, he buried his face into my shoulder, the material soaking with his tears as he pulled me into an awkward embrace. We sat in the hallway for a good few minutes, my hands limp on my sides as I saw the knife glinting near my shoes in the corner as Oikawa refused to let go of me.

“Why? Why do you go so far for me? You’ve only known me for a week.”

That’s true. I didn’t even know he was in the same class as me. I didn’t even know of his existence until a week ago when he spilled coffee all over my jacket front.

“You’re my friend, Nanami. That’s what friends do. Worry for one another,” he whispered as my breath hitched.

Friend. He called me a friend.

How could a word as simple as ‘friend’ make me tear up?

“Shittykawa,” I whispered as my hands moved to curl in the fabric of his jacket, the tears coming out once more from my eyes. I haven’t cried this much in a while and as we sat there awkwardly crying and holding onto each other, I couldn’t help but think that heck, this was really something that could happen in a shojo manga.

“Hey, can you kids keep it down?! People are trying to sleep here!” someone yelled from next door. If I recalled, my neighbor was a grumpy old man who liked smoking and playing mahjong into the wee hours of the morning.

Oikawa slowly released me as he stood up, fumbling for the light switch to make light flood into the room. I squinted as I was finally shown light for the first time in nearly 24 hours, the disarray of the house quite evident from the fact that dishes remained in the sink from the previous day and books lay scattered across the table. Some stray clothes lay on the ground and I tried not to think some underwear might be visible along with my bed looking like a nest.

“Nanami-chan, when was the last time you ate?” Oikawa asked as I remained awkwardly seated at the entrance. The growling in my stomach that followed was enough to answer his question as he bent down to scoop me up in his arms, bridal style and bring me over to the bed. I didn’t even say anything as he plopped me back down, turning on the rest of the lights as he smacked himself on his face before turning around, his usual smile back on his face as he grinned.

“Alright, how about I make you some food and you’ll be as good as new!” he grinned, acting as though everything had been swept under the carpet before proceeding into the kitchen. I didn’t stop him as he rummaged through my fridge, pulling out ingredients and chopping them up as he hummed to himself before throwing them into the wok. Soon, a nice cooking smell filled the air, my stomach growling even more as I looked at the chaos that was my room.

After the email had come in yesterday, I had spent most of the time under the blankets and sobbing about my life. That meant I hadn’t showered, eaten or drank anything for a good while and that explained why I felt like wanting to throw up.

“Eat. You’ll feel better,” Oikawa said as he came into my room, a plate filled with fried rice in his hand. The rice looked amazing and smelled great as well as I slowly took it from him, careful not to get it all over me as I put the spoon into my mouth, my stomach growling as it digested the food as quickly as it came in.

“This is good,” I muttered as Oikawa grinned, “Learned it from my sister. Sometimes I cook in the café so I can improve my cooking skills. Iwa-chan can’t be the only one cooking for us all the time like the mum.”

He watched as I gulped down the food, not pausing to chew as much as I should have until every grain of rice had disappeared. Now that I looked, the clock read nine at night and the more I thought about how much Oikawa had gone through for the past 24 hours just to get here, it made me feel the slightest bit of regret.

“Nanami-chan, was that the first time you tried to kill yourself?”

He said it in such a matter of fact manner I nearly dropped my plate but I knew this question would come. Besides, it was time to tell him just how much of a madman I am.

“The first time I did it, I was twelve. I had just won a writing competition and my parents didn’t say anything about it other than it being a useless hobby and that I needed to fill my time with something more useful. The second time was when I was in middle school and got bullied a lot for liking English movies and anime and it got so bad I had to transfer to a different school. It didn’t help much either so my parents made me stay put until I finally graduated and went to university.

For just about every year of my middle school and high school life, I would try to harm myself. I thought it would be best to just disappear instead of having to deal with the people around me all the time. My parents didn’t support my dreams of writing and wanted me to become a doctor. I wrote behind their backs, sending stories for competitions until I finally managed to win an award for Best Writer in Japan. I thought it would make them proud and realize that I could do something for myself. But, the only thing they said to me was…

_Do you think you can earn money as a writer? There is no such thing as having a job that you love. Everyone has to give up what they like in order to survive._ That broke me and while I managed to get into the course I thought I could handle, I couldn’t find the motivation to do well in it. It was during that time I learned about fanfiction and wrote them, even trying to sell some in fan events but they never did sell so I always ended up posting online. That was when I began to have inspirations for Metamorphosis. The idea started in the summer of my second year and with all the ideas in my mind, I wrote it within a week and edited it. I started sending it off to publishers but one by one, they began to send me rejection letters.

Most of them was about it not being sellable or people not wanting to buy it. I tried not to be disheartened and tried to write more fanfiction to combat with the stess of it, only for me to find that people were not reading my fanfiction either. I thought I should try to send to one more publisher, which was the one I sent to yesterday, but you know the rest of it.

I always wondered if I could even do well in life. Writing is the only thing I got for me, the only thing I could be good at. I didn’t know what else I could do… I just… feel so lost.”

Again, I began to sniffle as Oikawa gently picked the plate from my hands and set it on the floor, moving to sit on the bed next to me. The bed creaked under his weight as he sat next to me, his right hand moving to curl around my side to pull me against him. Even though this was the first time I’ve been in such close contact with a guy, I felt so… warm and welcomed.

“Nanami-chan, how about you have a good night sleep tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll binge watch all the latest Star Wars movies until we drop and then we’ll go to the screening for The Rise of Skywalker on the 19th. How does that sound?” Oikawa asked, so casual that it would have made me jump up and down in excitement if I hadn’t been having an identity crisis for the past day as I nodded.

“Are you sure we can still get tickets?”

“Oh, I was supposed to watch it with Iwa-chan but he says he rather study for his exams and that he thinks it would be bad anyways so it isn’t worth the money. I was thinking of how I was going to get a refund for it,” Oikawa sighed as I smiled ever so slightly when he moved to put me into bed. I almost felt like a child again, getting tucked in by my mother when I was feeling unwell as I felt my eyelids droop.

Wow, I didn’t expect to be this tired from crying.

“Are you going to go back?” I whispered as the weight on the bed shifted just slightly. I thought I would hear the clicking sound of the door shutting not long afterwards but instead, Oikawa went to turn off the lights around the house and move to the bed, sitting on the edge to put a hand on my shoulder.

“Not tonight. I’m going to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”

“Baka… I’m too tired to do anything stupid…” I muttered as I felt myself drifting off to sleep, my mind slowly going off to dreamland as I felt Oikawa’s presence by my side throughout the night.

…

When Oikawa woke up the next day, he saw the clock reading seven in the morning on the wall. Groaning at how he could never get a good shut eye since his body was already wired to wake up early for training, he twisted his body to get out and stretch when he saw Nanami’s body pressed up against him, her face still tear stricken from the previous night as he moved to wipe them away before hesitating.

He shouldn’t be acting so friendly and close with her but he couldn’t help but feel like wrapping his arms around her and protecting her from the world that she found hated her so much. After her story from the previous night, he had felt so bad for her bad upbringing and not doing anything to approach her in their first year. She had gone through so much, had been so lonely.

At least he could be by her side now.

The soft ringing tone from his phone made him glance at the screen to see Iwaizumi’s name flashing across the screen. He quickly picked up the call to prevent Nanami from waking up but it didn’t seem to stir her from her sleep as he walked to the balcony, opening the door as the cold winter air hit his face, making him regret going out without shoes and a coat.

“Oi, Shittykawa, did you do anything stupid?”

“I would never do something to a girl unless she wanted me to! Who do you think I am, Iwa-chan?!” Oikawa yelped as Iwaizumi sighed from the other end.

“At any rate, I have classes in an hour so you’re going to have to fix your own breakfast.”

“So mean!”  
  


“Grow up Oikawa! I can’t be your mum forever!”

There was the sound of books being put into a bag in the background and a grunt as Iwaizumi hoisted the bag onto his shoulder as he said, “Well, at least you didn’t get arrested so that’s something. What in the world happened last night?”

“Nanami tried to hurt herself,” Oikawa whispered as Iwaizumi sucked in a breath.

“Is she on any medication? Has she seen any doctors? I may be training to be one, but I don’t know much about mental health.”

“I’m not sure, that’s why I’m with her now.”

“Good. Stay with her and make sure you don’t let her out of your sight,” Iwaizumi grunted as he heard their front door clicking shut as Iwaizumi spoke one more time.

“Take care of her,” he said as he hung up the call, the ending tone filling Oikawa’s ear as he let his hand drop to his side, watching as the sun rose high above a snow-blanketed Tokyo, the city a white winter wonderland.


	8. Day 8 : 8 movies to binge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Japan's release date for Rise of Skywalker was 20th of December so thats why they watch it on that day and it is still considered the premiere.

**19th December**

I was a bit surprised to wake up to the smell of bacon and eggs frying away in the kitchen, Oikawa humming a low tune under his breath as I slowly woke up from bed. My mind felt more refreshed then it ever had been and with the smell of food waking me up even more, I felt even more alive than I’ve ever been.

“Morning, Nanami-chan! Breakfast is almost done… gyah!” he yelped as I heard the sound of splashing oil coming from beyond the kitchen. I quickly threw off the bedcovers and went into the kitchen to see Oikawa pouting, trying to nurse a spot of hot oil on his hand as I sighed.

“Its just a drop of oil.”

“But a drop can scar my hand for life!”

“People won’t look at your hands that much so you’re fine,” I muttered as I grabbed his hand and moved him to the sink, flipping on the tap with running cold water and let it splash onto Oikawa, who squealed like a pig as he tried to run from it before I decided it was enough.

“Mean!” he groaned as I tried my best not to smack my face when I remembered what he had told me yesterday about having a Star Wars marathon. It had been a while since I watched them and I was revving to actually sit down and watch them.

This might be the first time I’m actually watching them with someone since everyone back home thought Star Wars was stupid and not something a girl should watch, saying I should be more into romcom and cooking shows. I can cook just fine experimenting on my own, thank you very much!

“Where are we going to watch them? I don’t own the DVDs since they’re back in my hometown but I can go rent them after breakfast,” I muttered as Oikawa gave a mock look of horror before a dishcloth went sailing into his face.

“How could you not? Good thing I have them over at mine. Iwa-chan studies in the library most of the day and I don’t have any volleyball practice until after Christmas so we’re good to go.”

He finally scooped up what he had been cooking in the pan onto the plate and I had to say, I thought he had done reasonably well considering that I didn’t die from eating it afterwards. The egg was slightly charred, what was left of it anyways since he burnt it too long on the pan and the bacon were burnt to a crisp. Luckily, with the magic of soya sauce and rice, it made a decent meal, although Oikawa spent a good while bragging how much he had improved from not being able to even boil an egg to being able to fry an egg, although both were completely different things.

As I sat on the tiny table listening to him rant about how Iwaizumi was the main reason he hadn’t died since he sucked at domestic housekeeping, I wondered why I wasn’t ticked off with hearing him talk about himself and his best friend. Although I felt jealous Iwaizumi had the chance to grow up with someone who was worthy to be his best friend and apparently ex-partner on the court, I was slightly elated that with his busy schedule, that meant more time between me and Oikawa.

_“Shit, what am I thinking?”_ I yelped as I mentally smacked myself on the cheeks. I’ve only known this guy for a week, minus two days I didn’t see him on my own accord so why was I acting so familiar with him?

Did I really think we have graduated to being the coffee girl and the volleyball player to friends so quickly?

“Hey hey, Coffee-chan? Yahoo!” Oikawa called as he waved his hand in front of my face, making me realize I had been staring at the wall behind him all this time with a stupid dazed look on my face. He giggled as he gave my head a pat, his large hand nearly enveloping the top of my head as I tried not to flinch considering I never had much contact with any other person other than my parents, who even then didn’t get all hugging and what not with me.

“Why don’t you go have a shower and I do the dishes? That way we can go binge them before we watch the main movie tomorrow,” Oikawa grinned as I resisted the urge to sniff myself when he retreated to the kitchen, humming the ‘Binary Sunset’ theme under his breath as I wandered into the bathroom, hoping I would be able to handle watching eight movies in less than 24 hours.

…

It turned out that the guys live not too far from where I was, around a few blocks away in a simple but nice little apartment. When Oikawa opened the door to let me in, the strong smell of coffee was the first thing that hit my nose along with the smell of whatever shampoo the two of them were using. The apartment itself was a two bedroom apartment set in a retro style, the floor wooden with a comfy red couch with pillows thrown over it with a large TV stuck into the wall. Stacks of DVDs were piled up in the corner hapzardly, most of the titles jumping out to me as Godzilla and any form of sci-fi and alien related movies.

For a boy’s apartment, it was pretty neat.

Oikawa motioned me to pick out the DVDs before going into his room, closing the door behind him when I heard the sound of water running from the bathroom inside. As I heard Oikawa singing something from the shower, I tried to block out his horrible singing by trying not to topple the tower of DVDs they had made, running my finger along the spines of the DVDs.

“Alien vs. predator. ET. Matrix. How does he find the time and money to collect these?” I wondered aloud as I thought of the amount of money I had spent on my own merch. One time for my birthday, I had sneakily purchased a pewter figure of Darth Vader, complete with a certificate of manufacture and everything which was now collecting dust in my flat. I was surprised Oikawa hadn’t noticed it but then again, I had a lot of junk in my room that was easy to miss.

“Have you found it yet?” Oikawa called as I groaned, turning around to comment to him on how he should actually organize his DVDs better when I saw he was shirtless, clad in sweatpants and barefoot. His hands were running over his hair, droplets of water falling onto the ground as he gave a little sneeze.

“Go wear a shirt before you catch a cold, baka!” I yelled as I immediately grabbed a Godzilla pillow and threw it at Oikawa, who managed to catch it as he complained how he hated his shirt getting wet whenever he dried his hair before getting sent an R2D2 pillow in his direction. As he retreated into his bedroom, I tried not to notice the heat creeping up my face when he finally emerged once more, now clad in a Christmas jumper with “Ho ho ho, Merry Sithmas” with Dark Vader’s face printed on it and sporting a Christmas hat as I finally managed to pull out the Star Wars films from the pile, a grin of triumph on my face as Oikawa said.

“Now, to the most important question.”

The smirk on his face was so evil that I could feel shivers down my spine as he pointed a finger to the DVDs.

“Originals. Prequels or sequels first?” he said as I snapped, “Prequels first! It is only right to go in chronological order instead of going all over the place.”

“But I don’t want to have to deal with Jar Jar Binks and the shitty Anidala ship again!” Oikawa wailed as I tried not to chuck the DVD into his face.

“Don’t you dare insult my ship. And Jar Jar Binks isn’t that bad! If you want to say which one is worse, the sequels have worse plot than any of the films!”  
  


“How dare you! I think the sequels are a work of art with the CGI and new introduction of characters!”

“But you don’t ship Reylo!”

“Why would I even ship such a toxic relationship?!”  
  


The intensity of the situation was heated enough to make electric crackle across the room as both of us glared at one another. Although it wasn’t due to ill intent but rather than fans trying to get their priorities straight in how to watch a series.

After around ten minutes of debating, we settled on watching the sequels since they were related to the newest movie and I wanted a refresher course on them. As both of us settled on the couch, the structure sinking as Oikawa hugged his legs and munched away at the large tub of popcorn he has stashed away along with a tub of ice cream perched on the coffee table, we finally began the watching the movie but of course, we ended up bickering over which scenes were worse than the other as the movie went on.

“How could he kill his father?? What was he thinking?” Oikawa yelled as I snapped, “I think it makes sense! To fully embrace the dark side, he had to kill the person he loved most! Besides, apparently Harrison Ford wanted Han Solo to die or else he wouldn’t even be in this film.”

“Oh, and why then are you actually thinking that Kylo Ren taking off his mask is a good idea? Darth Vader didn’t even remove his mask until the final movie and even then, it was only for a few minutes!”

“His face is good!”  
  


“If his face is good, then I must be godlike.”

When we finished watching the Force Awakens, we promptly moved on to the Last Jedi, which in effect sparked even more controversial arguments between us even as I tried to defend my ship Reylo.

“How the heck can they be a thing? Don’t you understand the term ‘toxic relationships’? How can you accept the fact that after he killed his father whom she adored and after he tortured her friends and blowing up planets that they are meant to be together?” Oikawa groaned as he threw up his hands in defense, nearly spilling the popcorn all over himself as I poked a finger in his face.

“Reylo is life. If you haven’t noticed the scene of Ach To where they had the moment, they are meant for each other!”

“They had a freaking bond that they didn’t choose to have!”  
  


“Did you not want Rey to take his hand when they were on the ship?”

“That would just be even more insane if she went to the dark side! This story is for kids, they can’t do something so drastic!”  
  


“Well I’ve read a lot of fanfics, and they make sense!”  
  


“Are you two trying to watch a movie or are you having a debate on bad writing and bad characters? I have to say the plot is trash,” a voice called as we turned to see Iwaizumi standing at the door, all bundled up with a backpack thrown over his shoulder as Oikawa called, “Yo, Iwa-chan!”  
  


“Shittykawa, you better not have tried to steal my stash of popcorn,” he growled as he unraveled the scarf around his neck before removing his jacket, now covered with snow to shake the snow off and hang it on a hook. Oikawa gave him a teasing wink as the other boy came over and punched him full force on the head, a squeal escaping his lips as Iwaizumi pulled him into a choke before nodding his head to me.

“Hi. Sorry if my stupid roommate is driving you up the wall. He can be very annoying when he tries to shove his opinions into your face,” Iwaizumi said as I grinned, “Oh no, you can say I have quite strong opinions that need drilling into that brain of his.”

“Thank goodness for that. I think he needs to see reason that Reylo should be a ship,” Iwaizumi said as Oikawa looked flabbergasted enough to stop struggling.

“Iwa-chan! How could you? You betrayed me!”  
  


“Shut up Shittykawa and deal with it,” Iwaizumi grunted as he finally released his hold on him and stomped off into his room and dumped his bag on the ground when I turned to see that it was already past one in the afternoon.

“Are you sure we can even finish watching the series? We have another six movies left,” I wondered as Oikawa grinned, “When there is a will, there is a way.”

“That would sound much better if you actually studied for your exams. Don’t you have exams after the holidays?” Iwaizumi called as Oikawa yelped, “Don’t remind me, Iwa-chan! I’m trying to have a moment here! And also, come and watch it with us!”

“Unlike you, I have to study my ass off to be a doctor who can actually make sure you stay alive on that court with how you overwork yourself!”

As the two best friends bickered amongst each other, I sighed as I turned my attention to the movie, which was now at the bit with Chewbacca roasting what I bet was a Porg across a fire, my stomach rumbling as I reached to scoop some ice cream in my mouth before sighing with satisfaction.

This is going to be a long but fun day.


	9. Day 9 : Star Wars 9 movie premiere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to admit that one of my dreams when I get a boyfriend is to actually cosplay with him as Kylo Ren and me as Rey and go for comic con together. So yup, mad dreams might come true one day!
> 
> Since the movie premiered on 20th December in Japan, thats why even though there was supposed to be a story every day, this technically is the 20th of December but they headed there on the 19th for the countdown.
> 
> Watched a Youtube video of how it happened in Japan and yep, a lot of people did cosplay as characters for the movie and what not so tried to write as accurately as I could referring to that.

**19th December (nearly midnight)**

One thing that Oikawa failed to tell me was the fact that we were going to the movie premiere of Rise of Skywalker the very same day after binging through five movies and not being able to even reach the prequels, much to my horror and his happiness. Iwazumi had actually sat through majority of the films with us before shuffling off the library once more to do some cramming for the exams, which I silently hoped I would get a move on considering I _did_ have exams in January along with Oikawa.

“Eh, Nanami-chan, are you seriously going to go like that?” Oikawa asked as I stood up in a Star Wars hoodie with the title written in Japanese and the entire opening sequence of “A New Hope” written on the back in silver lettering. While I hoped I wouldn’t freeze to death considering it was in the negative outside for temperature and I was too lazy to go back and change, I was starting to think I should have gotten more Star Wars jumpers.

“Were you expecting her to cosplay and everything? Not everyone is as mad as you, Shittykawa,” Iwaizumi grunted from his perch at the kitchen island. The poor guy had come back once he was certain he would be able to study in peace and quiet without us around hollering about Star Wars in his face.

Although Oikawa said that it was payback for all the Godzilla films he was made to sit through as a child, much to Iwaizumi’s rage as he threatened to throw Oikawa from the fourth floor of their apartment complex.

“I don’t know. I do like cosplay but its pricey and I don’t want people to look at me weirdly,” I murmured as Oikawa looked torn between giving me a hug and saying something but instead, he gave me a clap on the back as he grinned, “Don’t worry, you won’t have to worry about it. Your jacket is cool anyway!”

“He just wants an excuse to go in his Kylo Ren costume and have someone accompany him as Rey. No way in hell I’m going as her,” Iwaizumi spat as Oikawa felt shiver down his spine as I laughed, imaging poor Iwaizumi in a Rey costume with his muscles bulging and the girls and men squealing over him when Oikawa excused himself to the toilet, leaving me and Iwaizumi sitting in slight awkward silence before he finally said, “Out of curiosity, why did you not get annoyed at this guy hounding you for the past week?”

“I… I thought he was quite interesting. No one has ever been so open to me about liking something and about my writing. I don’t even know why he went all out the other day when he came over… but we didn’t do anything! I swear!” I squeaked as Iwaizumi chuckled. He actually looked very handsome, in a rugged way and while he often had a scowl on his face, when his smile did appear, it made him look very kind.

“This is the first time he is ever able to act like that around someone. He was always so busy with his head deep in volleyball that he never did take the time to polish his social skills with girls and ended up growing up with aliens and volleyballs for brains. I don’t even know how I survived with him to be fair, he drives me mad half of the time.”

“But you live with him.”

“Better him than some random person who could prove to be even worse,” Iwaizumi sighed as Oikawa shuffled in his room, doing god knows what inside as Iwaizumi said.

“Nanami-san. I leave my idiot friend in your hands.”

I wondered why he would go to such lengths to tell me that when the door to Oikawa’s room banged open to reveal Oikawa in a Kylo Ren outfit, his face visible without the mask as he wielded his crossguard lightsaber in hand. He was grinning as he showed off the clothes that fitted well to his body, the costume made to the finish as me and Iwaizumi looked at each other before speaking as one.

“Stupidkawa.”

…

“I swear Oikawa, I wondered how Iwaizumi-san put up with you for so many years,” I murmured as we sat in the car, me trying my best not to squeeze to closely to Oikawa who was smiling at his success of being able to be in costume. The driver did give us a look that said ‘otaku’ and ‘weirdos’ as we piled into the taxi, making me wonder if Oikawa even gave a damn about his fans wondering if he was actually a mad fanboy instead of the cool volleyball player he was on the court.

“Come to think of it, what made you like Star Wars to begin with?” I asked.

“My aunt was from America and she ended up sending a box set of CDs of the series over to me. My parents didn’t really like it but I fell for it at first sight, always trying to pretend to be a Jedi Knight as a kid even during Halloween. I was going to go as Kylo Ren this Halloween but Ushiwaka-chan had to ruin it by saying we were having a special Halloween training session,” Oikawa pouted as we sped towards Roppongi hills.

I had no idea how much in advance he had booked the seats to this special viewing but judging from the throng of people who were crowding in front of the cinema, I guessed a few good months in advance. I made a mental note to thank Iwaizumi as much as I can by making sure his best friend stays alive and that he would get a nice Christmas gift at the end of it.

After Oikawa paid the fare, we stepped into the frigid cold winter Tokyo night, the wind cutting through me as I dug my hands into my pockets as much as I could. Oikawa looked perfectly fine in his costume, a cheery smile on his face as some girls rushed over to him, squealing as they asked to take pictures with him when I realized he wasn’t the only one in costume.

All around were people dressed up in every Star Wars character imaginable (save Jar Jar Binks, poor guy). There were many Kylo Rens and Stormtroopers along with what looked like some of the new characters in this movie. Cursing them slightly for having had me spoiled before entering the movie and trying to delete the image from my mind, I turned to see Oikawa being surrounded with even more girls, some of them fans of his from volleyball along with girls who wanted a picture with him.

I felt jealousy bubbling in me as he smiled and waved, looking very much like a celebrity in his element as he posed for the camera. That made me wonder why he even bothered associating with someone like me, quiet and never quite talking to anyone, always lost in my own little world of fanfiction and writing and anime. And Star Wars.

“Sorry!” Oikawa called as he finally managed to get away from the crowd towards me. His cheeks were rosy from the cold as we went inside, warmth enveloping me as we tried to squeeze through throngs of people. It was madness at how many people were here. I didn’t even know there was such an event and would certainly never go to one on my own considering how awkward I would be.

“What are we supposed to do now?” I half shouted over the music blaring from the speakers and the noise of the crowd as Oikawa said, “We wait. The movie starts at 12pm, effectively on 20th December. We will be the first ones to see it in the country, although I envy people who have already watched it today on the 19th. I had to avoid going on social media for 24 hours to not get spoiled.”

He looked very much pained at the fact as I laughed, reaching to ruffle his hair before realizing what I was doing.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t…” I stammered as he smiled, his eyes warm as he took me by the hand before pulling me to the stage where a large group of Stormtroopers stood in a line as he yanked out his phone.

“Come on! Now is the time to go wild and take a lot of pictures!” he grinned as I felt my heart hammer at how Kylo Ren was pulling me into the crowd, his big hand enveloping mine as we took off to the stage.

…

After about an hour of taking pictures and trying to squeeze past the crowd to get into the toilets and getting food, we found ourselves in a massive movie theatre packed to the brim with people. Half of them were in costumes and it was hard to not pick out anyone who wasn’t wearing something Star wars related. Different lightsaber flashed across the room as well as kids had mock lightsaber duels with one another while their parents tried to get them under control. I even caught sight of someone dressed as a Wookie holding hands with a female version of Han Solo, whose head was resting on the Wookie’s shoulder as I thought how cute they were.

“Here we are!” Oikawa grinned as he slid into row H seat 12, the very middle of the cinema. I was mentally squealing at how amazing the seating was and how comfortable the chairs were since they were made of leather when I realized that me and Oikawa were going to be sitting very close to one another for the next two and a half hours.

“Nanami, are you alright?” Oikawa asked as he turned in his seat. Now he was looking as though he was regretting wearing the costume, sweat trickling from his brow as I tried not to imagine how he might smell at the end of it when I asked, “Why did Iwaizumi-san give up his place?”

Oikawa was silent for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts as he gave a sheepish smile.

“After what happened, he thought it would be best for you to go unwind yourself and try to enjoy something. He wasn’t a fan of the movie anyway.”

“But it’s the last movie and you must have booked it very early.”

“He said it would be meaningless if you didn’t come with me.”

I thought I felt myself blush for just a minute when Oikawa himself seemed to turn a deep red as he stammered, “Anyways, I’m happy you’re here with me since he would be complaining half the time about taking pictures and not wanting to take any of me, which is really mean of him!”

Before I could say something, a man walked onto the stage in front of us, a microphone in his hand as he said, “Welcome to the first screening of the Rise of Skywalker in Japan. We will soon begin the countdown to the movie, starting in a minute.”

A large countdown clock appeared on the screen, ticking away as the numbers went down. Everyone who had lightsabers or blasters lifted their weapons into the air, chanting the numbers as they ticked away.

30 seconds left.

“Are you nervous?” Oikawa asked as I shook my head, wishing I could just join in the chanting with a lightsaber in hand. Instead, now I wanted to hold onto Oikawa, glad I finally had my wish come true of watching a Star Wars film together with someone, maybe even a boyfriend.

Not that Oikawa was mine anyways! What was I thinking?

“No. Just excited.”

10 seconds.  
  
“We’re so going to rant about this once this is over,” Oikawa grinned as the clock reached single digits.

  1. 4.



“Heck yes.”

  1. 2\. 1.



Cheers filled the air as the iconic music finally filled the air followed by the opening credits of the Rise of Skywalker. As the cinema finally droned down to a quiet, I couldn’t help but look at Oikawa, his face bright and smiling as we watched the epic finale of a story in a galaxy far far away that began 42 years ago.

…

Oikawa’s POV

“Wait, Iwa-chan. Are you sure? You’ve been looking forward to it all semester!” Oikawa said as Iwaizumi waved his hand.

“Its fine. I can watch it some other time since you would probably want to rewatch it. Besides, its not all the time you can go to the premiere of Star Wars with the girl you like.”

“I…. its not a date or anything!” Oikawa yelped as he turned red, trying not to think that he had been having stronger feelings for Nanami after spending time with her across the week. Just those seven days had given Nanami the chance to pour everything out to him and made Oikawa fall for her even more.

She may be a mad fangirl and writer with a hint of anime, but he still couldn’t help but feel he had found a girl he actually liked or even loved.

“Don’t screw it up by telling her that, Shittykawa,” Iwaizumi grunted as he fixed their coffee in the kitchen, narrowly managing to grab a sailing Godzilla plushie Oikawa threw at his head as he growled, “If you ruin any of my stuff, you’re going to be in a coma until the end of your volleyball season.”

“Mean!” Oikawa yelped as the clatter of spoons mixing sugar and milk in coffee mugs filled the still air of their tiny apartment.


	10. Day 10 : 10 Days of Oikawa Tooru

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While most of the first bits of the chapter is of me ranting about Rise of Skywalker and yes, if you're a fan of Reylo, you would know my feeling.
> 
> If you've watched Rise of Skywalker and would like to read a happier alternate ending, you can check out my story "Rise of the Skywalkers' on my profile.
> 
> Anyways, Happy Christmas Eve and hope you enjoy this chapter! Will released the epilogue tomorrow in time for Christmas.

**25th December**

Even though its been around three days since I watched the Star Wars movie with Oikawa, my heart still felt like a gaping whole waiting to be filled by the void the movie had given me.

Which was precisely why I had spent the last three days writing fanfiction after fanfiction to heal my aching heart, trying the best to bring back what the movie took from me even as Oikawa spoke patiently from the phone, which had been on voice call for the past hour he had been trying to get me out of the house. That wasn’t happening since I was on a mad rampage for healing my heart by drowning myself in fanfiction.

Never had I cried in a movie so badly my whole life and even then, I never even cried during a movie. This one had done just that, reducing me to a crying wreck as Oikawa gently pried me out of the cinema and back to my place since we wouldn’t have to worry about our conversation releasing the entire plot to poor Iwaizumi who was still cracking at it until early morning on his homework and revision.

The whole time, Oikawa had sat down next to me as I sobbed and raged over the ending. While most people had said it was the best way to end the saga, it hurt like a bitch because what happened had to be done. I just didn’t want to acknowledge that it did.

Somehow, in between hiccups and crying, I had fallen asleep on the bed and woken up the next day to see that Oikawa had let himself out, leaving me feeling a little cold and alone. For so long I had been alone without anyone to talk to or anyone to cry out my feelings to. Even if Rise of Skywalker had just been a movie, it was more than just a movie.

It had been my heart and soul, the movie that brought life to me when everything was dark.

Trying my best to get all the angst and sadness from my mind, I set to work in writing out a lot of fanfiction and trying to avoid all the comments about people blasting about my ship and how things turned out in the end. While many people had said the movie was amazing and the critics hated it, for once in my life, I agreed with the critics.

It sucked and I agreed with it whole heartedly.

“Nanami-chan, you should try to get some fresh air after being cooped up for so long,” Oikawa whined from the other end as I heard some shuffling in the background and a yelp as Oikawa got hammered on the head from Iwaizumi.

“Leave her be. She needs to mourn for it.”

“Its not like anyone died.”

“Oh don’t you dare, Oikawa. I will break your precious teeth if you bring that up,” I growled as I typed away, my eyes close to breaking after spending so much time in front of the screen. Oikawa sighed as he did something on his end, never wanting to end the call even though the most I had done was yell insults at him for what he said or juts ignoring him and letting him listen to my heavy breathing and the music from Star Wars in the background.

“We should go watch it the second time with Iwa-chan!” Oikawa pointed out as I tried not to reach into the phone and pull him into a choke as Iwaizumi did exactly that from their end, Oikawa yelling as he tried to break free from him as Iwaizumi said, “Why don’t you just bring her out for a walk? That would do her good.”

“Iwaizumi-san, not you too,” I moaned as he grunted, “It isn’t good to stay cooped up for too long. I know you’re upset, I would be too if something had happened to my favourite character and the movie being shit, but you can’t keep wallowing in it forever.”

“Which is why I’m writing fanfiction,” I grunted as he sighed, “Nanami-san, take a break and take care of yourself. Oikawa has been debating on kicking down your door and dragging you over to binge more films with him just to get your head out of it.”

“I didn’t!” Oikawa yelped as I whispered, “Thanks for the offer.”

Despite all the shit I had done the past week and how I had been ignoring him for the most bit of the past few days to wallow myself in misery, I felt grateful for Oikawa actually wanting to help ease my pain from it all. Movies weren’t just something you loved; it is something for life. I didn’t know if the Star Wars fandom can ever be the same again, but I for one knew I could never see the way I had done as a child.

“Well… if you want, we can go to the Winter Wonderland here. They have a lot of hot chocolate and even an ice skating rink! Been meaning to check it out for a while but Iwa-chan has been too stingy to go out and have fun, like an old man. Ouch!”

I sighed at how Oikawa seemed to like being abused by his best friend as I said yes to the invitation, not even thinking twice about it as Oikawa sent me the details before ending the call. As I finally got out from my chair to go to the window, the world outside now covered in a thick blanket of snow and cold air, I hugged the thick jumper I had around my body as I pressed a hand on the glass. My breath steamed the glass as I sighed, my heart racing at the thought of being able to go out with Oikawa again the next day as the sun began to set over Tokyo.

…

I hadn’t realized with everything happening that it was now Christmas Eve and the festivities were now in full swing. Despite the country’s citizens not officially celebrating it for its religious purposes, Christmas was still a day where families and friends went out to have fun, couples hand in hand while parents held onto their children who were crying out to get more treats and play at the stalls.

I shivered as I hugged the jacket against my body. Despite me having worn a thermal, a wool jumper and a thick scarf wound around my neck with a thick pair of socks and winter boots, I was close to freezing to death as I walked down the square where the Christmas market was. True enough, an ice skating rink had been built around a large Christmas tree decorated with lights and ornaments, shining nearly as bright as the Tokyo Tower in the background as people skated around it.

“Nanami-chan!” Oikawa called as he waved me over from where he stood. He had been leaning against a lamppost the whole time, his ears covered with earmuffs as he jogged over. Some girls giggled as he passed by them, his face red from the cold as I gave him a small bow.

“Man, its freezing! Maybe we should get something to drink before going on the ice skating rink!” he shivered as I gaped, “You want to go ice skating?”

“It’s been a while since I done it but no fear, I will pay for you so you have no excuse to not go on it. But first, hot chocolate with Baileys coming right up!” he yelled as he grabbed my arm to tug me behind him. I didn’t think much about the motion as he pulled me through the crowd, the world seemingly being closed around us as my eyes focused on his retreating back. Being with Oikawa had showed me sights I had dreamed of seeing for years; being with someone during Christmas Eve, drinking hot chocolate, try out ice skating, maybe going under the mistletoe…

“Ah! This is the best!” Oikawa laughed as he smacked his lips, his lip covered with frosting as I resisted the urge to wipe it away as I drank my own. I never though alcohol with hot chocolate could taste this good and it warmed me to my toes, saving me from shivering too much when he reached out with a tissue to clean my mouth. I tried not to flinch or blush as he did so before looking as though he had just realized what he has done.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean do something so close with you,” he yelped as he stuffed the tissue into his now empty cup and tossed it into the bin, babbling about how we should go ice skating next as I tried to keep up with him.

Was it just me or both of us were a little on edge today with one another?

On the ice skating rink, he was not graceful at all, nearly falling on his butt the moment he stepped onto it much to his horror and the giggles of people around him. I stepped onto the ice, wobbling on the pair of rented ice skates I wore that were slightly too tight as Oikawa gave a yell, falling on his butt once more as a little kid skated past.

“Nice try, Ojisan!” he called as Oikawa turned red, trying not to yell after him as I reached to pull him up when I realized he was a whole lot heavier than me and we were both standing on ice. I didn’t have time to rectify the mistake as I fell on top of him, making him squeaked as I landed with a thump, some girls squealing at the display and the rink attendants rushing up to see if we, most particularly Oikawa, were ok as Oikawa grunted.

“You’re more heavy than you look.”

“Do you now have any idea on what to not tell a girl?” I groaned as I pushed myself off him and tried to pull myself up and out of the rink, Oikawa soon following suit as we managed to pull ourselves out of a very embarrassing situation.

On the bright side, we got a refund after the staff said we could do so considering we spent five minutes falling onto the ice and nearly getting injured.

“Now then. What should we do?” Oikawa murmured as we walked as far away from the ice skating rink as possible when I realized we were nearing a park that was now set up in Christmas decorations and lights. With the snow, it truly looked like a winter wonderland, the lights shining from the branches of the trees and people sitting on the benches, holding onto mugs of hot drinks of just enjoying each other’s company.

“Offf. Thank goodness I can still sit,” Oikawa groaned as he sat down on the bench, shivering at how cold it was as I joined his side. Both of us sat in comfortable silence for a while, watching as people walked past by us and the moon shone high above our heads. It was sad with the light pollution that we couldn’t see the stars.

As I craned my neck to look at the night sky, my eyes fell on a single cluster of red berries surrounded by spiky leaves swaying on a thread. My heart hammered as I recall from what I heard from stories about it being a tradition to kiss under it during Christmas and have your love sealed with the person you love forever. I always thought it was stupid but now…

“Nanami-chan,” Oikawa murmured as he reached for my hands, his gloves enveloping mine as he blushed, his face so red that I thought he looked so cute as he stammered.

“I’m sorry if I seemed to have been butting into your life so much these past week. I know we haven’t met for long and you barely know me and that I seem to be an idiot who only knows volleyball and is good looking, but when I saw you in class for the first time, proudly showing your pride in Star Wars and always diligently going for lectures despite having no one to sit with, I wanted to get to know you more. I wanted to sit next to you and ask you who your favourite character was from Star Wars and other sci fi films, if you loved watching movies with aliens and wanted to watch films with me. I wanted to be a friend you never had, although I wondered why people wouldn’t want to befriend someone as amazing as you. That’s why…” he whispered as he reached to cup my cheek, his brown eyes soft as he whispered, “I want to remain by your side for as long as I can.”

I didn’t resist as he leaned in to kiss me, a soft peck on the lips before drawing backward. Before he could draw away any further, I grabbed him by his scarf and pulled him against him, kissing him hard but sloppily as he groaned against me. He tasted of hot chocolate and snow, of Bailey’s and light.

He tasted of home.

“Nanami-chan,” Oikawa breathed as I pulled away from him, our cheeks flushed from kissing as I smiled, “I would like that too, Oikawa.”

Slowly, I reached into my bag and pulled out a hapzardly wrapped present just as Oikawa did the same, reaching into his pocket to pull out a small wrapped box as both of us said at the same time, “Merry Christmas” before exchanging the gifts.

“Wow, this is so cool!” he yelped as he threw off his scarf to wrap the Jar Jar Binks scarf I had given him around his neck, his aqua marine one falling onto his lap in a pile as I reached to open mine, tearing the paper away to reveal a jewelry box.

No… it was too early for something like this.

“I didn’t know if you liked it but when I saw it, I knew I had to get it for you,” Oikawa muttered as I opened the box with shaking hands to reveal a round pendant forged in the shape of the millennium falcon. When I turned it around, I managed to make out the inscription on the back of it, reading the English words out loud before hugging Oikawa at full force.

“May the Force be with you. Always.”

As we held onto each other, I could almost imagine the love song of Anakin and Padme playing in the background along with the Binary Sunsets of Tatooine, signaling the arrival of a new chapter in our lives.


	11. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the late chapter release, didnt realise I would be out for the whole day but Christmas isn't over yet! (well at least in my time zone). 
> 
> Anyways, merry Christmas and hope you have a greta new year. May I present to you the final chapter aka the epilogue of this story, 10 days of Oikawa Tooru and hope you enjoy it to the very end!

**Few years later…**

“Congratulations on the release of your new book, Nanami-san!” the woman across me chirped as I tried to pull a smile on my face with all the cameras and light flashing around it. It was already a tough job trying to keep my eyes open and having to see so many people in front of me but then again, not everyone gets to sit on a podium with a large poster of their book being released hanging behind them.

The image of a girl standing amongst a team of giants, all of them bearing the colours gold, black and dark green on their jerseys as she held a volleyball in her hand shone from the cover. Her eyes were shadowed as she stared at the people beyond, the volleyball yellow with blue lines streaking across it as the title ‘Beyond the Wall’ shone on the top in white letters.

“I heard you started writing this book around a year ago. Can you tell us more about it? The volleyball scenes in this book are really on point and readers have commented about feeling as though they were playing on the court themselves, with some of them even trying out the sport and falling in love with it.”

“Well, I met a certain volleyball idiot in my university days and he inspired me to write the story after seeing how much he loved the sport. With the help of my friends, I managed to bring about this book. Thank you for picking up this story, it really warms my heart that it had touched the hearts of you all today,” I said as I bowed, earning claps and cheers from the crowd as the interviewer smiled.

“Some people have commented the characters seeming to have been based off the members of the Tokyo University volleyball team and other volleyball players but there isn’t any solid evidence to it. Can you comment on that?”

I turned to the cameras, putting a finger to my lips as I grinned as the boys who were watching on the other side of the screen as I winked.

“We may never know.”

“Ohhh! That leaves some room for more questions! Can you tell us more about your journey as a writer and how you come about to be who you are today? I recall having heard you were doing psychology in university. Did it help you learn more about how to analyse characters?”

“It did help me to a certain degree but what pushed me on was the support of the friends I made over the years. It has been a long and hard journey and there had been times I wanted to quit, but here I am now, happy that I hadn’t done that. I look forward to working with you all and answering any of your questions,” I smiled as hands began to raise for attention, the feeling of happiness in my heart thundering as talked about the book I had been wanting to write for so many years.

…

“Oya oya oya, little kitten. I’m pretty sure this character was modeled after me. care to explain why you called me crazy rooster head so many times in the story?” Kuroo smirked as he tried to wrap an arm around my neck as Akaashi, the pretty setter on Bokuto’s team pulled me away before he could murder me as he sighed, “Kuroo-san, its not wise to handle a woman like that.”

“Shut it Akaashi! As if you know how to handle women when you don’t even have a girlfriend!” Kuroo squawked as Oikawa came to the rescue, draping his arm around me and steering me away as the bickering between the two continued.

Currently we were at a party for celebrating the success of the release of the book as well as the announcement of the film being made from it. News of ‘Beyond the Wall’ being made into a movie raced through the country like wildfire and due to knowing some volleyball idiots who would like to star in the film, I had roped in a few individuals and as luck may have it, they landed the roles.

“Can you imagine me as a movie star? I’m going to woe the audience with my looks,” Oikawa grinned as Iwaizumi hung back trying not to pummel him in the head once more when I just did it on his behalf, earning a squeal from him. He snickered before planting a kiss on my head before winding his fingers with my own, his larger hand enveloping mine nicely as we walked out onto the balcony.

It was a cold winter’s day, the air cold and frigid as snowflakes fell around us in tiny little pieces. I raised a hand to let one land on my palm, the snow melting as quickly as it had appeared before I turned to look at the scene around us. Everyone seemed so happy, chatting away about their excitement of the book’s success and the filming of the movie. More than one of the volleyball dorks I called my friends now were part of the cast, including a few I hadn’t met before but heard as upcoming players such as the Miya twins and even Ushijima coming in for a minor role in the story.

While most of them had finished university, Oikawa and Ushijima were still well on the way of becoming players for Japan, with the two of them having been selected for the next Olympics. Asides from being a mad volleyball player, Oikawa dabbles now into modeling and a bit of acting when he has the time along with making sure I was alive and had inspiration to write my story as well as reading my drafts.

I may have forgot to mention to my readers that I didn’t have an editor since Oikawa did everything for me.

“I never thought I would be able to see this day,” I whispered as Oikawa pulled me against him, his arms wrapping around me to cacoon me in his warmth as he smiled, “I knew you could do it. Just needed a bit of inspiration.”

“Well I did give you the honor of playing the lead role, although the main lead would be an actress you might not want to kiss.”

“Nah. When that scene comes,” he smiled as he tilted my head towards his before leaning in for the kiss, whispering the words as he melted into me, “I will make sure you stand in for her instead.”

“Good luck with that,” I grinned against him as we embraced each other, watching as each of our dreams unfolded before our eyes.

It all started with the day coffee being spilled over me by a boy trying to run from the cameras.

The second day was of the two students going to a café and discovering their love for a story in a galaxy far far away.

The third day was of us sending constant messages to one another.

The fourth day was of me meeting his world of volleyball and discovering sights I had never seen before.

The fifth day was of me being rejected by the world I loved.

The sixth day was of me debating if I should continue with this harsh life.

The seventh day was of Oikawa coming to my rescue, saving me from the hell I had been born to and bringing me purpose in life.

The eighth day was of us sitting on a couch, watching the story of Jedi Knights fighting against Sith Lords amongst the stars.

The ninth day was of us watching the final chapter of the Skywalker saga, bringing an end to a 42-year old legacy and new chapter in life without certain characters.

The tenth day was of us kissing underneath the mistletoe, confessions having been said to be part of each other’s life.

Ten days of Oikawa Tooru was enough to bring me where I am today.

If I could turn back the clock, I would do it all again. With him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked this Christmassy little story and thank you for supporting it!
> 
> Fun fact that I have in fact written and self published the book titles mentioned in this series; "Metamorphosis" and "Beyond the Wall" on Amazon under the name Angel Carstairs so check them out if you're interested! Feel free to pm me about anything about the story as well, love hearing feedback and thoughts and feelings on them!
> 
> Here are the links to the books:
> 
> Metamorphosis : https://www.amazon.com/Metamorphosis-When-hunted-becomes-hunter-ebook/dp/B07YRV6Y8W/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1577309218&refinements=p_27%3AAngel+Carstairs&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=Angel+Carstairs
> 
> Beyond the wall : https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Wall-Together-stand-court-ebook/dp/B07Q5NNJ8P/ref=sr_1_4?qid=1577309245&refinements=p_27%3AAngel+Carstairs&s=digital-text&sr=1-4&text=Angel+Carstairs
> 
> Ave atque vale and until we meet again, sayonara.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this story, hit the subscribe button for updates or leave kudos and comments! Really makes my day!


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